Knights of the Silver Millenium
by Ten-Faced Paladin
Summary: Ages past and memories are forgotten. Watch as now those memories return to help combat an unforseen threat.
1. Meeting and Storytelling

This is a fusion between Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, and Kamen Rider Ryuki. I do not own any of these and I never will. Anyone who says otherwise will need to consult some lawyers or something. Anyway, let's get on with the fic!

-Ten-Faced Paladin

Knights of the Silver Millenium

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 1: Meetings and Sotrytelling

_Why can't I ever catch a break?_

That was one question that one Ranma Saotome kept asking himself as his day progressed. It started as per usual. His father hurled him straight out the window to begin their morning practice. Now that Ranma was a woman, she had sufficient motivation to pound one Genma Saotome into panda paste. Things had continued on as usual with Kasumi giving her a kettle of hot water so that Ranma could resume her birth gender. Akane lost her temper at some reason and pounded him into the floor yet again. He just called her an uncute tomboy. Frankly, Ranma reasoned she should be geting used to that by now.

After the failed wedding, things between Ranma and Akane seemed pleasant enough. They didn't hurl insults at each other constantly anymore. Of course the fathers took this the wrong way and instantly began trying to force them together despite agreeing that the wedding should wait. This just caused Ranma and Akane to begin disagreeing with them and not wanting the wedding to take place. Things just degenerated back to the way they used to be before Saffron. It was like Jusendo never happened.

_I really thought she liked me._

The other fiancees began getting more desperate for Ranma's attention. Ukyo tried to make better and better lunches for him but Ranma wasn't in a forgiving mood for the wedding. Shampoo increased the rate and power of her glomps. Before, Ranma couldn't get out of them unless he put a good portion of his strength into it and hurt Shampoo in the process. Now he would probably break her arms if he really wanted to get out. Kodachi...well, she was as loony as ever.

_Can't they ever leave me alone?_

On the way to school, Ranma got splashed by that old lady again, turning him into a girl. This only caused the delusional idiot Kuno to try and collect her and Akane in his arms before they sent him flyng into the next district agan. School was actually peaceful for a change. Principal Kuno was off on some kind of teachers meeting (some argued that it was a Hawaiian party) so he managed to not be late for a change. Ms. Hinako apparently found some delinquents already so she was in adult form when class started so she didn't have as sharp of an eye out for troublemakers as she would if she was a kid.

_Things are looking up for a change._

Lunch was more or less okay. Hiroshi and Daisuke were somewhat sympathetic to Ranma's troubles. They listened anyway. That is, until Akane stomped over to him and tried to feed him somethign she made. Ranma made one comment that the stuff was actually moving before she bashed him over the head. Daisuke idly mentioned that her temper seemed to be getting shorter. Then things got worse when Ukyo and Shampoo tried to give him their own lunches that they made. That turned into an all-out battle whch ended when Akane came back and called Ranma a pervert for letting the floozies hang over him before malleting him into the sky.

_Stupid tomboy. They weren't even touching me ths time!!_

He landed in one of his usual spots. The people living there gave him some greetings while a concerned old lady checked his head for bruises. A few of the other boys his age that actually didn't go to Furinkan talked to him and tried to think of ways out of his problems. Ranma actually found out that he was well-liked in the Nerima district because of how he dealt with some of the dangerous guys like Happosai or Ryoga. A lot of people were grateful for his help but they really couldn't thank him because he was always in some fight or knocked out of the district.

_At least the normal folks listen to me. Too bad they really can't help._

On his way back to the dojo, Ryoga appeared out of nowhere and attacked by screaming his usual 'PREPARE TO DIE!!' speech. Taking him down was easy enough but Mousse was making a delivery to the area and when he saw the fight he instantly jumped in so he could attempt to get Ranma to' release hs love'. The fight itself was rather the norm for Ranma. His opponents got the lghts beat out of them while massive property damage resulted. Ranma himself got a few bumps and bruises but nothing serious. He would expect another thank-you card from a contracting companies later. Those guys were making a fortune since he came to town.

_Can't those dopes see that I don't want their girls?_

Ranma finally got back to the dojo and casually stepped inside. While he was taking off his slippers, Kasumi saw him and she stepped over to hm with the usual smile on her face.

"Oh hello Ranma," she smiled. "Did you have a nice trip?"

"I guess you could say that," Ranma sighed. "Wasn't boring."

"That's nice," Kasumi replied. "Do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Uh, sure Kasumi," Ranma nodded. "What is it?"

"Well, you seemed stressed today so I thought you could use some time to yourself," Kasumi explained as she pulled out a small list. "I needed to go to Juuban to pck up some things, but I can't go becuase there are too many things I need to do here. Do you think you could get them for me?"

"Sure Kasumi," Ranma smiled as he took the list. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Oh wonderful," Kasumi smiled brightly.

After being given some money for the items in question, Ranma set out towards the Juuban district. While he was roofhopping there, he recalled the stories about those Sailor Senshi chcks that most girls went gaga over. He heard about how they fought monsters and rescued people with some pretty wierd attacks. While Ranma had a chauvanistic attiitude towards women, it didn't mean that he didn't respect them nor did he think they were weak. Experiences with the fiancees were enough to pound that nugget of wisdom from his father straight out of his head. No, Ranma just didn't like to hit girls because it just felt wrong to him for some reason. Anyway, Ranma figured if there were girls out there strong enough to take out monsters and stuff then they were okay in his book. If he was lucky he might even be able to spar with on of them.

Gettng to Juuban was easy enough for him. Finding the right stores on the other hand was pretty damn tough. Hs mother may have lived out in the same district, but she was on the outskirts while this was deeper in. After afew minutes of searching, Ranma decided to go to ground level and see if he could ask anyone for directions. He landed just outside a place called the Crown Arcade, deciding that t was as good a place as any to try and get some directions. Now, one would assume that Ranma's pride wouldn't let him admit that he was lost, but after having to deal with the messes on the road caused by his dad being too proud to admit his failings cured him of that little hang-up.

The doors slid open as Ranma stepped inside the arcade and headed to the front counter. There was a blonde guy there who was dealing with the usual transactions that an arcade usually went through on a day to day basis.

"Hi there," the guy at the counter smiled. "How can I help you?"

"Hey," Ranma greeted. "I'm a little lost. I'm not from this district so I can't find where some of the stores are."

Ranma showed the guy at the counter a list of the stores that Kasumi had given him. That girl was incredibly thourough when it came to chores and shopping. The guy at the counter read over the list. While the two males talked over directions, they were being observed by a group of young women. They were none other that the group of friends that were secretly part of the group of heroines called the Sailor Senshi.

"Oooh!" Minako Aino A.K.A. Sailor Venus admired when her eyes landed on the piftailed martial artist. "Who's that guy?"

"He looks like my old sempai!" Makoto Kino A.K.A. Sailor Jupiter gasped. More enthusiastically than normal.

"I don't think I've seen him around here before," observed Ami Mizuno A.K.A. Sailor Mercury.

"Looks like a fighter to me," Rei Hino A.K.A. Sailor Mars said quietly.

"He's a cutie, but my Mamo-chan is way cuter!" giggled Usagi Tsukino A.K.A. Sailor Moon.

It wasn't unnoticed by Ranma the eyes that were trained on him. While listening to Motoki (he introduced himself) and his directions, Ranma slowly let his senses examine the girls who were oogling him. You could never tell f another fiancee/rival was waiting in the wings so it paid to be on guard. One of them was pretty powerful in a spiritual sense. She was probably a priestess or something. The others were significantly weaker. Well, one of them was slightly hgher. She was most likely a martial artist. The other two were about average but the last one was strange. She was packing some serious power, but Ranma couldn't figure out what it was. Her ki was slightly seperate from it but she definitely didn't have any control of her ki so how did that energy get so strong?

Further contemplation on strange ki or directions to the stores was halted by a scream of terror. Ranma immediately turned around at the sound of the scream, his senses going into high alert. Those same senses were already telllng him that some knd of demonic force. After having to deal with Happosai, Herb, and Saffron, feeling ths kind of weird power wasn't anything new. What he didn't know was that the five girls who had been looking at him had also snapped to attention at the sound of the scream. Ranma was already racing outside to deal with whatever was making that dark aura.

What was outside was anything but friendly. It had a basic female shape but it definitely did not look like anything hum. The creature looke dlike it was part car or something. It's shoulders werecovered by tires while armor that looked like a car body covered it's torso. Exhaust pipes stuck out of it's back while it stood on hgh heels made of steel.

"Your energy is mine humans!" it shrieked loudly.

"Oh please," Ranma smirked. "I've faced things way scarier than you!"

"What?!" the youma shrieked, hearing the insult. "How dare you!"

The youma roared in anger before it ran at Ranma. It's arms were raised, ready to pummel him into dust. It swung at the pigtailed martial artist, but it only hit air. Utterly confused, the youma looked around trying to find it's target.

"Up here slowpoke!" was heared from above.

The youma looked straight up to see her target right above her and coming down fast. The youma tried to retalliate but Ranma was already on the attack. His arms were brought up, his ki collecting into his hands and being infused with his confidence.

"Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma called as he sent the orb of ki at the youma.

The youma, thinking this attack would be an easy meal. It reached up to try and catch the attack. Normally, youma could easily absorb the energy emitted by a human being. However, Ranma's energy was refined and given purpose, to attack hs target. A youma could only absorb energy that was raw and unrefined. That way it was easier to absorb. Refined energy like those martial artists use (i.e. Ranma and Ryoga's) attatched to their wielders and was therefore unclaimable. With this in mind, the sphere of energy slammed into the youma and exploded, sending it back into the street. Not a drop of it was absorbed by the youma.

"Is that it?" Ranma smirked. "I thought you youma were supposed to be tough."

"Raaaagh!" the youma roared as it got to it's feeet. "I'll shut that mouth of yours and drain all your energy!"

"Just try it," Ranma grinned, happily anticipating the fight ahead.

The youma bellowed and began it's charge. Ranma took a defensive stance, ready for the beatdown to begin. He could tell that this monster's energy was way lower than even Herb's. This fight was going to be pretty fun rather that some of the deadler ones he had to deal with lately. Unfortunately, fate decided to put one final wrench in the gears.

"Hold it!" a female voice shouted.

Ranma and the youma looked up to the top of the building where the voice had come from. Up top were five girls dressed up in fukus. Each one of them were differently coloured and each of them had a different hairstyle. Ranma could have sworn that he had seen them all before. The ki he was sensing felt familiar but again, he couldn't tell where he had sensed it before.

"Terrorizing innocent people is a true act of evil!" the girl with the twin ponytails said with a frown.

"But the macho martial artist is a real help, not to mention a real piece of eye-food." the blonde girl in orange smiled while winking at Ranma.

"Huh?" Ranma gaped, confused at her choice of words but he still blushed when he caught that he was being called eye-candy. Then he realised where he had seen these girls before. They were on the posters that Kasumi had in her room, hidden in her closet.

"Wow," Ranma stared. "Are you the Sailor Senshi?"

"Oh, youv'e heard of us?" the girl in green smiled, hoping to look cuter than the one in orange.

"Yeah," Ranma nodded. "It would be nice to talk to you girls. Just let me finish with this fume breathing junk heap."

"Junk heap?!" the youma hissed. "Listen boy! My parts are made from the highest quality materials availible!"

"So then you're a shiny junk heap," Ranma laughed.

"Raaaaaaaagh!" the youma bellowed as it charged forward.

Ranma let it come as the youma thre punch after punch at him. The scouts were yelling for him to get out of the way so they could attack but he wasn't listeng. he was too busy concentrating on the Soul of Ice technique. The youma was too angry to notice the air growing colder around Ranma or that his breath was visible. It also didn't notice the spiral pattern that he was leading it through. Sailor Merciury, on the other hand, did notice somethng odd happening when she looked at her computer.

"Hey guys," she called, getting her friends' attention. "Somethng's odd with that boy. He's giving off temperatures that are in the negative!"

"What?" gasped Sailor Mars. "That's impossible!"

"I'm also reading a buildup of energy that's geetting bigger the closer the youma is being led towards the centre of the spiral. it's going to go crtical!" the shy Sailor Senshi warned.

"Oh no!" Sailor Moon gasped. "He'll get caught in the centre!"

Ranma would have smirked even wider if he could hear the scouts worrying about him. He couldn't since his concentration was on what he was doing. He knew that this thing was a threat to the innocent so he really didn't have much choice at this point. He would have to make sure he put this thing down so that it wouldn't be able to get back up for a long time. Finally reaching the centre of the spiral, Ranma clenched his fist before unleashing his attack.

"HIRYUU SHOUTEN HAA!!!"

The massve tornado sot into the air and took the youm along wth it. It roared in agony as it's body was battered and broken. Unfortunately for it, the impact form the attack was too great and it was dusted. Ranma watched as the wind died down. Normally he might feel badly about this but a youma was nothing near human and had given up any right to be treated as such when it chose it's path. Ranma held no remorse.

"Whew!" he girnned. "Glad that's over with."

"Wow!' came the amazed voice of one of the Sailor Senshi.

Ranma looked over and saw the colourful girls walkng up to him with amazement in their eyes. Ranma couldn't help but smirk at this. Most people neveer knew what ht them when he used his techniques while witnesses never saw it coming. Now that he could actually look at the scouts, he could easily tell whch one was which. Kasumi's poster was helpful in that manner anyway.

"How did you do that?" asked Sailor Moon. "Who are you?"

"The technique is my little secret," Ranma smiled. "But I can answer your other question. 'My name is Ranma Saotome of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Uh...sorry about the mess."

Each of the Sailor Senshi were having their own reactions to hearing the name of Nerima's, if not the world's greatest martial artist. Jupiter had thought her heart had stopped for a moment. Venus had stiffened visibly. Moon looked like she was about to break out in a squeal of happiness. Mars broke into the brghtest smile that anyone had ever seen on her face. Mercury blushed cutely at hearing his name, suddenly scooting a little more behind her teammates so Ranma didn't notice her.

Only Ranma was blind to this little reaction. He just chuckled to himself while sratching the base of his pigtail, "Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I've still got some errands to run so, see ya."

With that, Ranma leaped to the top of the closest buidling and was off like a shot. The scouts were still buisy wth his remembering his name. All five of them were silent for a moment before it was finally too much for them to hold in anymore. In short, each of them exploded in their own special ways.

"Sempai!" Jupiter cheered delight, her arms in the air. "You finally came back! Oh Sempai!"

"Oh my god!" Venus cried with her hands on her cheeks and stars n her eyes. "He's even more handsome than before! I never thought I'd see him again!"

"Ranchan!" Sailor Moon squealed in delight. "You came back! You came back!"

"Oh Ranma," Mars sighed. "I knew I'd see you again."

"Ohhhh," Mercury whispered to herelf as her face heated up. "Ranma saw me in my uniform. I feel so embarrassed. What if he recognises me? He'll think I'm some knd of pervert!"

Suddenly, each scout stopped cheering when they heard what the others had said. When the words the other senshi had said kicked in, they instantly turned to each other before loudly saying, "HOW DO YOU KNOW RANMA/RANCHAN?!"

Anymore arguing was halted when police sirens could be heard coming from the distance. The Senshi looked at each other before silently agreeing to meeting up at Rei's house. After a quick nod, the girls leaped to the rooftops.

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Ranma had just stepped out of one of the stores Kasumi had sent him too when he saw the news on the television in an electronics store go on about the fight with the youma. He couldn't help but smile in satisfaction at how the newscaster reported unknown male destroying the youma.

"Those Sailor Senshi don't seem bad if their aura's are telling me anything," Ranma mused to himself. "Kind of skimpy dressers though. I wonder if V-chan knows them."

Ranma then set out for another store, his thoughts turning to some friends he made during his long training journey.

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Up on the Hkawa Shrine grounds, the Sailor Senshi in civillan form had met up for their meeting. Rei stood up and coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Okay," she spoke. "It seems that during events this afternoon, we all discovered that we had a common friend. What I would like to know is how you all met him."

"Before you tell your stories, perhaps you could wait for us?" asked a new voice.

The girls looked over to the doorway of the room and saw five new people entering. The one who had spoke was Setsuna Meioh A.K.A. Sailor Pluto. To her right were the two outer scouts Haruka Tenoh A.K.A. Sailor Uranus and Michiru Kaioh A.K.A. Sailor Neptune. Between the two outers was a younger girl named Hotaru Tomoe A.K.A. Sailor Saturn. To Setsuna's left was Serena's boyfriend and future husband Mamoru A.K.A. Tuxedo Kamen. Holding his hand was a younger girl that would be Serena's future daughter Chibi-Usa A.K.A. Sailor Chibi-Moon.

"We heard that there was a youma attack and that some guy beat it with his bare hands," Haruka explained. "You sound like you know him."

"Yup," Usagi smiled. "His name's Ranma Saotome."

"Ranma Saotome!" all the newcomers gasped except for Chibi-Usa and Setsuna.

"Are you sure?" asked Haruka, running up to the younger girls.

"Without a doubt?" pleaded Hotaru.

"Are you positive?" asked Michiru more calmly.

"Never thought I'd hear his name again," Mamoru laughed.

This just got Rei to gape in shock, "You all know him too?"

"I don't," replied Chibi-Usa "I only heard stories about him from Hotaru and Puu."

"Well then," Setsuna smiled, a rare thing these days. "Let's sit down and hear some stories then. Why don't you go first Makoto? You seem eager to share."

The Senshi of Jupiter smiled cutely.

--------**Makoto's Story**--------------------

A seven-year old Makoto could be seen leaning against a tree in the park. She was watchng the othe kids playing games and such with their parents. This just made her want to cry. He parents were dead and gone now. She was pretty much alone now with her relatives and it really hurt. She felt evious of the other kids who got hugs from their mothers or piggyback rides from their fathers. Thinking about having that just brought tears from to her eyes. Soon she just couldn't take it anymore and she started to cry. Suddenly, a snap of branches catches her attention and she looks up. Above her, sitting on one of the tree branches is a boy with black hair tied in a pigtail and wearing a gi. Her eyes wden at seeing the boy so high up. The boy notices her and smiles brightly.

"Hi!" the boy smiles. "Why are you crying?"

"Um," Makoto begins, wiping her eyes. "No reason."

"Okay," the boy shrugs. "My name's Ranma. What's yours?"

"Makoto," the little girl replies.

"Hiya Makoto," Ranma replied before leaping down to the ground from the tree. Lita gasps in amazement.

"How did you do that?" Makoto asked curiously.

"I'm a martial artist!" Ranma laughs. "Pop is teaching me all sorts of stuff."

"Oh," Makoto frowns, her sadness about not having a father returning. "What about your mama?"

"Um," Ranma suddenly frowned. "I dunno. I don't think I have a mama."

Makoto suddenly looked back to Ranma.Had she finally met someone who at least knewa littleabout how she felt? She could see a little sadness in his eyes when he tried to think about his mother. Deciding to tell a little more about herself, Makoto began talking again.

"I don't have a mama or a papa," she said sadly. "You're lucky to have a papa."

"I guess," Ranma shrugged. "I don't think pop is a good man though. He keeps getting yelled at by those police guys. Is that bad?"

"That's very bad!" Makoto replied with a nod. "If they get mad at you then you're in big trouble!"

"Wow" Ranma shrugged. "Then pop is really bad since they yell at him all the time before we have to run."

Makoto giggled, thinking Ranma was joking. She then looked at his white gi, "So you know Karate and stuff?"

"More than that!" Ranma smiled proudly. "I know Karate, Tai Kwon Do, and I'm learning Tai Chi too! I'm learnig Anything Goes!"

"Anything Goes?" Makoto asked in confusion. "That sounds cool! Can I learn too?"

"Well," Ranma pondered. "Pop says girls shouldn't do this but the teacher at the dojo I'm at teaches a lot of girls."

"I'll make you lunch," Makoto offered, wantng to learn this so badly.

"Okay!" Ranma smiled brightly, the thought of food sealing the deal.

That was how it all began. Everyday after his lessons, Ranma would come to the park to meet with Makoto. She would have a bento of food ready for him. It wasn't great at frst but she got better real fast. The same could be said for her fighting skills. Everyday she got a little better and she would preactice before school. Soon she was sparring with Ranma and the two were great friends. He even started callng her 'Mako-chan' while she called him 'Sempai.' Sadly, all good things must come to an end and Ranma was dragged off by his father. He did manage to say goodbye to Makoto, but she promised in her tears that she was going to get better. Ranam had promised that he was going to come back someday.

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"Oh how romantc!" Minako sighed as Makoto broke out into a blush.

"So Ranma is your sempai?" asked Usagi. "I thought you were talking about someone in school."

"Well, I did have an old boyfrind in school but I never said Ranma was my boyfriend," Makoto replied. 'Not that I would mind. He's turned into a total hunk!'

"Who's next?" asked Setsuna.

"Me! Me! Me!" Minako said cheerily.

-------------------**Minako's Story**------------------

Minako was roofhopping as Sailor V back in England. There had been reports of thefts from a number of stores and even a church! Didn't this theif have any kind of spiritual values? Sailor V was determined to defeat this theif and make sure that everyone's valuables. Hopefully she would be back home n time to finish her homework. She had been falling behind since she became Sailor V. As she was passing by Buckingham Palace she heard people shouting.

"What did you do Pop?!" a male voice growled. "I can't leave you alone for one second without you tryng to steal something!"

"Quiet boy," an older voice snapped. "If I had gotten in there we would have been set for the rest of the trip!"

"Oh please, you'd blow it all in a week on alcohol and food!" the younger voice shouted. "You'd spend it all on yourself anyway."

"The life of a martial artist is filled with peril!" the older voice retorted. "It's training!"

"Yeah, while you get fat and lazy on my work old man!" the younger growled. "No wonder I'm so much better than you!"

"That's it!" the older shouted indignantly. "I will make you respect me!"

"Bring it!"

Sailor V heard some kind of fierce fight before it ended. She dared to look where the source was and saw two people hiding in an alley. One was an older man in a training gi wth glasses and bandanna. The man was out cold and on the ground. The other person was a boy who looked a year or two older than her and had black hair tied in a pigtail. He was also in a traing gi. Sailor V smiled brightly before stepping into view.

"This must be the thief that everyone was talking about," she said confidently. "Thank you for capturing him."

The pigtailed boy sighed as he shook his hed, "Yeah well Pops is always doing stupid stuff. Most of the things he stole are probably in pawns shops by now so I don't think I can get them back for you. Who are you anyway?"

Sailor V gaped in surprise, "You don't know me? I'm Sailor V! Champion of justice and punisher of evil!"

"Never heard of ya," the boy laughed. "I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."

"Ah well," Sailor V shrugged before walking towards the unconcious man. "Thanks for helping me Mr. Saotome. Now I'll just lug this guy to the police station."

"Woah there!" Ranma said before stepping in front of his father. "As much as I know he deserves jail and stuff, he still my pop. Besides, he's kinda my ticket home so I really can't let hm get thrown in jail."

"What?!" Sailor V gaped while taking a battle stance. "But he's a thief! You have to let me take him."

"Sorry," Ranma shrugged. "Not gonna happen tonight."

Sailor V didn't want to hurt the cute guy but she knew she had to stop the thief. So, she attacked head on. Befor eshe could ht Ranma hough, he ducked and wrapped an arm arounf her wast, causing her to blush. Not many cute guys wrapped an arm around her like that. Before she knew it, he leaped onto the roof of a building wth here on tow. Everytime she tried to hit him, he would dodge and poke her in the side. He'd even give her pointers on how to fight. It went on until Ranma just leaped away. Thinking he had enough Sailor V went back to where his father was only to find him gone. Ranma had probably seen his father get up so had enededto fight. Sailor V hadn't been that steamed in a while, even though it was kind of nice to have a cute guy hold her or tickle her when he poked a ticklish spot.

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"I know he didn't have a choice so I forgave him," Minako giggled. "He actually gave me some good pointers too."

"My turn!" Usagi smiled brightly.

-----------------**Usagi's Story**-------------------------------

A four-year old Usagi was toddlig along and playng with a five-year old Ranma. The two were having the times of their lives. Usagi was pretending to be a princess on the moon while Ranma was pretending to be a prince. He would protect her from evil monsters until her true love would rescue her. Ranma would sometimes pretend that he was her prince in shining armor. It was a little hard for him to be two people at once, but he managed. Usagi was enjoying the attention from her best friend though.

Sitting at the kitchen table were Nodoka and Ikuko, talking about what was going on in their lives.

"I can't believe you're even considering this training trip," Ikuko sighed. "Ranma needs more than just his father, he needs his mother too."

"But I just want Ranam to be the best he can be," Nodoka argued. "If he stays home all the time he'll never get that. Seeing the world will do him wonders."

'Not if Genma keeps leeching off him,' Ikuko thought sadly to herself.

Back to the toddlers, Usagi had just glomped Ranma for rescuing her from the evil queen and her soldiers.

"Wanchan," little Usagi whispered. "Pwomise to never go away."

"I pwomise odango," Ranma grinned. "I'll never go away."

"Yaaay!" Usagi cheered before she kissed his cheek, something she had seen her parents do.

Little Ranma just blushed crimson.

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"We were the best of friends then," Usagi smiled. "When his mother called and told my mom she found him again I was so happy."

"Wow," Chibi-Usa giggled. "Are you sure he's not my daddy?"

"Chibi-Usa!" Usagi snapped.

"Okay, I'll go next," Rei smiled, defusing the situation.

-----------------------**Rei's Story**----------------------------

Little Rei was humming a small tune to herself as she brought out a blanket for a picnic. Her grandma and grandpa said they were going to have one today since it was such a nice day. Rei hadn't been on a picnic before so she wanted everything to be right. After she unrolled the blanket, she heard soemthing near the trees. Curious, she decided to see what it was. She didn't have to go far before she saw a boy who looked maybe a little older than her licking his hand like he was a kitty. The boy looked at her and smiled.

"Meow" Neko-Ranma called before shuffling over to her with a smile.

"Hello kitty-boy," Rei giggled as she pet his head. "What are you doing here?"

Neko-Ranma meowed some more before he saw Rei's grandparents walking towards the blanket with the food. The cat boy meowed happily before racing over to the two adults and meowed again, asking for food.

"Oh my!" Mrs. Hino gasped. "Just who is this young man?"

"Hmm," Mr. Hino pondered. "His aura seems a little off. Where did you find him Rei?"

"Near the trees," Rei replied. Before she could answer anymore questions, there was a gasp from the older woman which caused the attention of her grandaughter and husband to turn to her. She was sitting down on the round now with the cat boy nestled in her lap purring away happily. Apparently Neko-Ranma had pounced on her so he could get onto her lap.

"Hmm," Mr. Hino pondered. "It looks like the Neko-Ken to me."

"Neko-Ken?" asked Rei.

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"Neko-Ken?" asked Hotaru.

"A martial arts technique you don't want to try," Rei replied sadly.

"He must have been so cute as a kitty!" Minako squealed.

"Ohh, he was so friendly and cuddly! He just loved to play," Rei gushed. "Ami, what about you?"

"Ummm," Amy blushed, recalling the memory.

---------------------**Ami's Story**-------------------------------------

Little Ami was walking next to her mother in the hospital. She just loved to visit some of the patients. They really enjoyed the company. The oldest people and kids liked having a new friend to talk to. Her mother had told her that there was a new boy in the hospital who could use a friend. Ami was still a very shy child, even for an eight-year old, but Dr. Mizuno was hopeful that thses little visiting sessions would be as helpful to her as it was to the patients. Her mother led her to a room where there was a boy with a black pigtail doing some kind of kata in his room even with all the bandages he had on. Dr. Mizuno gasped in horror before she stormed to the boy.

"Ranma! You can't be about now! The stitches will break." she cried. "Please get back to bed."

"But I'm bored!" Ranma whined.

"We have all these books next to your bed," Dr. Mizuno replied. "Why don't you read them?"

Ranma blushed for some reason before he reluctantly got back into the bed. Dr. Mizuno nodded in satisfaction before she gestured for daughter to come it.

"Ranma, this is my daughter Ami," Dr. Mizuno smiled. "Ami, this is Ranma Saotome. I thought you could use some company. I have to check up on some other patients so you two be nice."

The doctor then left the room. Ami looked down at her feet while Ranma looked at her curiously.

"You can sit in the chair if you want," Ranma suddenly spoke. "Pop never comes anyway."

"O-okay," Ami nodded as se sat next to Ranma.

Ranma twiddled his thumbs while Amy tried to think of something to say. Her mother said to just try to relax around other people and she would be fine. After another minute, Ami took a deep breather before speaking again.

"Ranma, do...do you like school?" she asked.

"Um...I dunno," Ranma shrugged. "I've never gone to school. Pop says I'll never have to."

"But everyone has to go to school Ranma," Amy argued, surprising herself. "You learn all these neat things. You get to read books and play with frends too."

"I...don't really have many frends," Ranma frowned sadly. Ami was feeling pretty sad just by seeing the look in his eyes. She knew what it was like to not have many friends.

"I'll be your friend," Ami smiled, wanting to cheer him up. "If you want me to."

"Really?!" Ranma gasped with a huge smile. Ami nodded. "Aw, thank-you Ami-chan!"

The little girl blushed at the cute name she had been given.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"That's so cute Ami!" Serena cired to the blushng bluenette.

"I visited him everyday," Ami smiled. "It turns out his father hadn't really taught him to read so he wasn't that good at it so I taught him. I was really sad when he was let out. His father only came to get him. He never visited the whole time Ranma was there. He skipped out on the bill too if I remember correctly."

'That's just the tip of the iceberg,' Setsuna thought sadly to herself. 'No, more like the snowflake on the tip of the iceberg.'

-------------------------------------------------------------

"ACHOO!" Ranma sneezed for the fifth time. "Aw man, who's talking about me?"

Ranma landed in front of the Tendo Dojo with his arms filled with packages. They wer ebalanced perfectly so that he still had use of hs hands. He walked over to the front door and opened it.

"I'm home!" he called.

To Be Continued...

A/N: Hey there, me again with a Sailor Moon Crossover. This is like my fourth one. Ah well, I was trying to think of how to write the next chapters of my other stories when this one hit me. Thought I'd put it on papar and see what happened. For the Kamen Rider fans don't worry, that's coming later, I just thought I'd say the disclaimer now before I forget. I changed the names from western to Japanese because it seems more people like it that way. Frankly I don't care either way if the story is good. Thanks to the critics though,'ll definite try to improve on this.


	2. Horses and Dragons

I do not own Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, or Kamen Rider Ryuki. All those belong to their respective creators. If I did own them then I would probably be doing pretty good in lfe. Since I don't I can only go on my merry way. Anyhow, enjoy the fic!

-Ten-Faced Paladin

Kinights of the Silver Millenium

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 2: Horses and Dragons

Ranma stepped insde the house with the purcheses that Kasumi had sent him for. He headed towards the kitchen almost on instinct. He knew that was one of the places that Kasumi was most likely to be. He really didn't know where she wanted the bags so he had to ask her.

"Kasumi?" Ranma called as he stepped into the kitchen. The eldest Tendo daughter wasright at the oven where she was stirring something for dinner. The smell was heavenly and Ranma found himself entranced by it. He was snapped out of his food hypnosis when Kasumi took notice of him.

"Oh, hello again Ranma," she smiled. "Did you get everything?"

"Everythng on the list," Ranma replied, shaking his head to get the fog out. "Where would you like it?"

"On the counter please," Kasumi replied. While the two were unpacking the purchases, Kasumi had decided to strike up some conversation. "How was Juuban?"

"Sometimes I think it's as crazy as Nerima sometimes," Ranma chuckled. "Those youma look pretty wierd in my honest opinion. Funny how Mom never mentioned them."

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped. "You saw a youma? Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Ranma chuckled. "The stupid thing couldn't even lay a hand on me. I dusted it too. Oh, that reminds me, the Sailor Senshi showed up."

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped in shock for a second time. "Ranma, I think I'm jealeous of you. Getting to meet the guardions of love and justice is something I've always wanted to do. Did you talk to them?"

"Yeah," Ranma nodded as he folded soem of the bags. "They were the...what do you call 'em, the Inners! Yeah, they seemed pretty nice. They seemed pretty impressed with how I took out that youma."

"Be careful Ranma," Kasumi giggled. "We don't want magical girls fighting over you now do we?"

The mere thought of those girls fighting against the fiancess sent shivers down Ranma's spine, "Oh man, I do not want that to happen. I have enough problems as it is."

Kasumi giggled before startng to put the purchases away. Ranma decided to help for a change since Soun and his father were nowhere to be seen. They were probably out getting drunk somewhere and plotting on how to force Akane and Ranma to get married. When Ranma thought of it, he hadn't seen the old perv Happosai lately. Usually he was off bouncing around either groping women or stealing panties. Where had he gotten off to?

"SWEETO!!"

Nevermind. Apparently just thinking about him caused the old goat to show up.

Ranma heaved a sigh before he dashed outside. He looked to the rooftops and saw the perverted master of Anything Goes bouncing from rooftop to rooftop with a large pack of no doubt stolen panties. Ranma immediately leaped upwards towards the old perv. At least he was still pretty strong. Ranma could get a decent workout tonight if he didn't pound the old man unconcious for his theiving ways first.

"What a haul! What a haul!" Happosai cackled with glee. The day had been ecceptionally lucrative for him. Everything was easy pickings and Genma's boy hadn't even managed to get in the way for a change. Happosai thought he was going to have to bring two bags for his silky darlings when he stumbled on that lingere show. Those girls never knew what hit them after he was through with them. Not a single woman was left ungroped or with their underwear intact. The thought of that particular raid had Happosai cackling even louder than before. The day was just wonderful for him.

This was when Murphy's law decided to kick in, as it did for so many other residents in Nerima.

"Hey ya old perv!" an unmistakable voice called.

Happosai looke dup and saw Ranma coming in for a powerful kick. The old man leaped away to avoid the attack and avoid injury, but his treasures were not so fortunate. Ranma's foot collided with Happosais spoils and knocked them into the street. This was when the usual mob of angry women that followed Happosai whenever he went on thse raids caught up and reclaimed what was theirs.

"Okay," said one woman. "We got them back but we still need to find that old perv and make him pay! Who's with me!"

The rallying cheer set off another chase as the mob of women set out to find the old perv. Happosai watched his treasures quickly vanish into the horizon. He sat on his knees cryng at the loss. Ranma chuckled before he leaped back into the Tendo's yard. He figured that judging by the tears the old perv of crying, loosing his 'precious treasures' was enough of a pick-me-up for the day. Happosai was still crying at the loss before he turned to where Ranma had landed and glared with the fury of a man seprated form his most cherished belongings.

"Ranma!" he bellowed as he leaped into the yard. "It's time I taught you how to respect the master!"

"You ain't my master!" Ranma snapped as he turned to face the old man. "Never have been, never will be!"

"You forced my hand Ranma," Happosai growled. "Now I must use my ultimate weapon!"

"I'm shaking in my boots old man," Ranma smirked.

Happosai growled and reached into his outfit before yanking out a stature of a Chinese dragon that looked about the size of an adult snake. Ranma quirked an eyebrow at it. He figured it was one of the amazon treasures that he had stolen and if it was, then no doubt that it had some kind of magic in it. The dragon had a set of symbols scrawled down it's back. The first was the symbol for the sun that rested on the back of it's head while the last one was the symbol for Pluto and it was on the tip of it's tail.

"With this statue, I will summon a ferocious dragon that is said to hail from the moon itself!" Happosai barked. "It's power will be beyond anything you have seen before Ranma!"

"I'm sure old man," Ranma sighed. "Herb's a descendant of a dragon you know. How hard could the real thing be?"

"Humph," Happosai laughed. "We'll soon see."

Happosai began chanting in some wierd language while holding the statue above his head. The symbols began to glow as Happosai's chanting became louder. Soon all tthe symbols erupted in light that threatened to blind Ranma if he stared at them too long. Happosai continued to chant before everything was engulfed by the light. Ranma could still hear the old perv chanting before the sounds of stone shattering could be heard. He knew the sound well because he had heard it enough in his training and dealing with Ryoga and his Bakusai Tenketsu. The lght finally died down and Ranma had to rub his eyes for a minute before his vision returned. Happosai could be seen standing in a circle of stone chunks but there was no dragon.

"Oh my!" came a surprised voice. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Uh," Ranma tried to reason. "Since there isn't a dragon I guess not."

"What?!" Haposai gasped. "Where is my dragon?! The writings about this thing said it would summon a dragon! Where is it?!"

"Ah well old man," Ranma smirked while dashing towards the old perv. "Guess your luck just stinks today!"

With a well-placed kick, Ranma sent Happosai into the distance much like he did Kuno. Shaking his head at the old man's stupidity, he turned to head back into the house when he saw Kasumi kneeling on the ground with something in her arms.

"Oh so cute," she smiled as she held it close. "You're not one bit the monster Grandfather Happosai wanted."

Now utterly confused, Ranma walked over to the eldest Tendo daughter and gazed at what she was holding in her arms. It was a dragon, so Happosai's spell had worked. It's body was covered in silver scales that had a rainbow sheen to them. It wasstill a Chinese dragon, but it looked kind of innocent rather than the beast everyone had been expecting. It was about the same size as the statue it had come from. On it's forhead was a crescent moon that was bright yellow. Ranma could only think of one thing to say.

"Kinda shrimpy if you ask me," he muttered.

Suddenly, the dragon's eyes snapped open, revealing crystal blue orbs. It looked straight at Ranma before it leaped out of Kasumi's arms and bit down on Ranma's nose and held on tight.

"WAAAAAGH!" Ranma cried in pain as he tried to yank the offending reptile off. "Why you shrimpy little-!"

"Who are you calling so shrimpy they need a microscope to see!!" the dragon growled, taking his teeth out of Ranma's flesh before chomping down even harder than before.

Ranma cired out in pain again and redoubled his efforts to getting the dragon off his nose. Kasumi watched in surprise for a moment before she stepped over to Ranma and gently pried the dragon off of him.

"Now Dragon-san" she chided gently. "It's not nice to bite people like that. Ranma, you shouldn't insult others like that. It's not nice."

"Sorry," both Ranma and the dragon replied, their rage withering under Kasumi's gentle gaze.

"Now," Kasumi smiled. "Let's go inside and see if we can't give out new guest some tea."

"Thank-you ma'am," the dragon smiled as Kasumi carried it inside. Ranma just grumbled about shrimpy snakes as he sulked inside rubbing his nose.

After everyone had calmed down, Kasumi had set out tea for the dragon set in a minature cup that came from a doll set that she used to own. It fit perfectly into the dragon's hands as he slowly savoured the taste. Akane and Nabiki had heard the noise and had come down to see what the problem was. Akane had giggled slightly at the bandage Ranma had set on his nose while Nabiki was getting caught up on the situation.

"So Happosai summoned this thing?" Nabiki asked her elder sister.

"Yes," Kasumi nodded. "Grandfather Happosai seemed so disappointed when he couldn't see a large dragon."

"I'm not a thing," the dragon suddenly spoke up from his seat on the table. "My name is Draco."

"Duly noted," Nabiki nodded. "Just why did you try to bite of Saotome's nose anyway?"

"He called me short," Draco growled while both males in the room started glaring at each other. "I am not short."

"Yoou look like it to me," Ranma spoke before Akane bopped him over the head.

"Baka!" she snapped. "You deserved it!"

"Hey you-!" Ranma began before Nabiki decided to defuse the impending argument by talking to their new guest. "So Draco, now that you're up and around what do you plan to do?"

"Well," Draco sighed as he took a sip of tea. "First thing's first. I'll have to find the Celestial Knights."

"Celestial Knights?" asked Akane.

"Oh yes," Draco nodded. "They were a royal order of knights that protected the people of the Silver Millenium."

"What's the Silver Millenium?" asked Nabiki.

"It was a period in time in which every planet in the solar system was at peace and ruled by Queen Serenity," Draco explained. "Before you harp on me about it not being possible for life on the other wolrds, there were biospheres that allowed life to thrive on the planets. Only they were mostly destroyed when the Silver Millenium fell."

"If this time supposedly existed then how come no one ever heard of it or find it's relics?" asked Nabiki suspiciously.

"The answer is simple," Draco sighed. "The Dark Kingdom had completely wiped out the Silver Millenium and almost everything was destroyed by Beryl. The only things that you could find that are even remotely connected to the Silver Millenium are the ruins of the palace on the moon. Most of the people were sent forward by Queen Serenity to be reincarnated in the future."

"So...the knights might have been reborn in this time?" asked Akane. Even Ranma was showing a degree of interest at this point. Even if it wasn't enough for him to forgive the tiny dragon for trying to bite his nose off. To be honest, something like this fit right in with the usual wierdness that existed in Nerima.

"Right," Draco nodded. "Too bad I don't even know where to start."

Cue sweatdrops on everyone but Kasumi. The eldest Tendo daughter was still smiling as she refilled Draco's cup.

"Oh my Draco-san," Kasumi smiled. "That is such an exciting story. Maybe Ranma could help you find your knight friends."

"But Kasumi," Nabiki reasoned. "He just said he doesn't know where to start."

"Draco, just how are you supposed to tell if someone is a knight or not?" asked Akane.

"At least that part's easy," Draco sighed. "The kinghts held their homes at heart. If they have a symbol that appears over their heart then I can tell that they are a knight. But, then it can be a man or a woman. So the field isn't really narrowed down that much."

"Don't you know what they looked like back then?" Ranma asked absently.

"Well, no one was allowed to see their faces unless they were a member of the royal family or they were the one the knight intended to marry." Draco sweatdropped. "You can see how difficult this is now."

"Oh for the love of-," Nabiki sighed. "What about the royal family? You mentioned that people were sent forward to be reincarnated. I'll bet the royal family were some of the first to be sent."

"I'm not sure of the order, but you're probably right," Draco nodded. "The Sailor Senshi were some of the finest warriors we had back then. If I could find them then probably the knights wont be that far away."

"The Sailor Senshi!" the people gathered gasped.

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped. "We know where they are. Ranma met them earlier today."

"Wait, hold on!" Nabiki frowned while turning to Ranma. "You met the Sailor Senshi and didn't tell me?"

"Uh..." Ranma blanched. "Well, c'mon Draco. I'm sure we can find the Senshi pretty fast!"

Grabbing the tiny dragon, Ranma dashed out of the house before Nabiki could press him for more information. The middle Tendo sister smiled in satisfaction after watching him go.

"You planned that didn't you?" asked Akane with a raised eyebrow.

"You know me well little sister," Nabiki smirked.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

From within their prison, four dark figures watched a crystal globe in the centre of the room. Each of them were mildly bored, but their intent was very much clear. The figure at the western point of the room who was donned in thick white armor that had black stripes over it. A small slit in the helet was the only way he was able to see. He was also quickly anticipating a future event.

"Genbu," the figure spoke. "How long has it been since we were imprisoned here?"

At a northern point of the room, there was a man donned in black armour. By his feet was a large shield that was crafted like a turtled shell. He was also gripping a staff that was crafted after a snake. The armour was thick and looked like it was almost to heavy to move around in. The helmet was bulky and was styled after a turtle's head.

"Too long Byakko," the one called Genbu sighed. "It was somewhat amusing to see that idiot Pharoah 90 get destroyed though."

At the eastern point of the room, there was another man who had a dragon thene to his armor. The helmet looked lke a Chinese Dragon was about to swallow a face that had a black slit for eyes and a large gray mouthguard. The chest and shoulders were a deep blue and had spined fins sticking from the shoulders. At his side was a blade staff that had a Chinese dragon curling around the staff.

"The Silence would have been somewhat...inconvenent for us to compete with," he laughed. "Pharaoh 90 would have spotted our forces easily if we were the only living creatures around."

At the southern point was a woman in more flexible red armor that was accented with red feathers. The helmet hid her features but her long braid of red hair was easily visible. Her curves were also quite visible despite the armor.

"Well now we have plenty of targets to choose from," the woman smiled. "Anyone in mind Seiryuu?"

"Nothing definite yet Suzaku," the blue armored man named Seiryuu replied. "I am a little more concerned about these Senshi who had defeated Pharaoh 90. The large being was a complete moron but he was still a powerful one."

"Then perhaps we should send soemthing to test them," suggested Byakko.

"Send two," Added Genbu. "With the number of Senshi there are, one star beast might be overwhelmed."

"So be it," Seiryuu sighed before he pointed his weapon at the crystal globe. A beam of blue energy shot from his weapon and into the crystal ball. The sphere flashed twice before it showed two spheres of light nside of it.

"Go to the world of the sun," Byakko spoke with a growl. "Find the Sailor Senshi and see just how powerful they really are."

The orbs blinked for a second befor ethey faded from sight. The four figures then resumed a stationary position, contemplating their actions and effects on their further plans.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

At the Hikawa shrine, the Sailor Senshi were all discussing one Ranma Saotome. Actually, the Inner Senshi were doing the discussing. Mamoru watched while the Outers were either watching or in Hotaru's case, talking to her friend Chibi-Usa. The Inners were all comparing what they knew about Ranma and what he might be like now.

"Well," Rei reasoned. "If he's anything like how we knew him back then, we can guess that he's probably still the nice guy we knew him as."

"I hope he's still single," Minako sighed dreamily to herself, daydreaming of being Ranma's girlfriend.

"Hmm," Haruka pondered "I never knew Ranma was such a ladies man. He sure didn't seem like one when I last saw him."

"Well, when was the last time you saw him?" asked Michiru.

"Hmm," Haruka recalled. "it was-."

Her memories were stopped when Luna and Artemis could be seen running up the stairs looking like they were in a panic.

"Usagi!" Luna cried. "Where have you been?! There's two more youma attacking downtown!"

"WHAT?!" Usagi cried.

"Two in one day?!" Makoto asked in disbelief.

"Apparently," Artemis nodded. "We'd better hurry before they start hurting people!"

"You don't have to tell us twice!" Rei nodded.

The girls then pulled out their henshin sticks and prepared themselves for yet another fight. Two in one day was a little odd for them, but they didn't see anything to be worried about..

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranma landed on another rooftop as he entered Juuban. Draco was tightly curled around his arm and shaking in terror. Ranma looked straight down on the tiny dragon on his arm.

"I thought you were some kind of dragon," Ranma sighed. "Aren't you supposed to be brave or something?"

"Shut up!" Draco snapped. "I'm not one of the flying kinds of dragons!"

"Whatever," Ranma sighed. "Can't wait to find those Senshi chicks so they can deal with you."

"I'll have you know that I was an advisor to Queen Serenity and her royal court!" Draco huffed.

"Yeah that's real impresive," Ranma sighed. "Too bad there isn't a Silver Millenium anymore."

'CHOMP!' "OWWW!"

Ranma turned to his left arm where Draco was coiled around. His teeth were also dug deep into his arm.

"Why you little-!" Ranma growled, getting ready to pound the lizard.

"I AM NOT LITTLE!" Draco roared angrily.

The two were about to duke it out when something had interrupted them. A large explosion sound to be exact. Both Ranma and Draco slowly turned their gazes towards where the sond had origionated from. It was easy to tell from the dust cloud that could be seen from the distance.

"What in Serenity's name was that?" asked Draco incrediously

"Kami-sama not again," Ranma sighed. "Probably another youma."

"A youma?!" Draco screeched. "What the heck are they doing here?! I thought they were all gone!"

"Well you thought wrong," Ranma smirked. "I took one down earlier today without any of those spiffy magic attacks those Senshi use."

Draco stared at Ranma in amazement, 'This boy destroyed a youma without any magic? Who is this kid?'

Ranma was already headng straight for the source of the destruction. The dust from the last explosion was still lifting, but everything was able to be seen. The youma in question was actually two. Both of them were fashioned after horses. Both of them were covered from head to hoof in armor. Not an inch of flesh was visible. One was just a plain gray covered in armor that seemed made for going fast. It looked like it was modeled after a stallion. The other one looked like a zebra and it looked like it was made more for war. The armor was thick and heavy and the hooves had spikes on them. Both animals looked royally P.O. ed at the world in general.

"The princesses!" Draco cried.

"Whew," Ranma sighed. "Those things look pretty tough. Might be right up there with Herb"

"What?!" Draco gaped. "You can't be serious?! You can't beat those things! They're star beasts, not youma!"

"Doens't matter what they are. I'll still kick theri butts," Ranma smirked before leaping into the thick of the battle.

-------------------------------------------------------------

The battle for the Senshi was not going well. The two armored animals were tearing up everything in sight when the Senshi had arrived. When they did show up, the two animals went into a fury and began attacking wildly. The Stallion was too fast to target while the zebra kept laying on heavy assaults to keep them disorginized. The last attack the zebra had launched at them was a flying tackle which slammed into the side of a building, causing a big cloud of dust and debris.

"Mercury, don't these things have a weakness?" asked Mars as they watched the stallion race next to the zebra to keep it covered.

"I keep trying to scan them, but the gray horse keeps getting in the way." Mercury replied while trying to scan both horses.

The stallion snorted and began running again straight at the Senshi, preparing to run them down. The stallion was aiming right for Sailor Jupiter when it suddenly felt some unexpected weight appear on it's back. The added weight had caught it off guard and caused the stallion to stumble and crash into the pavement. The Senshi were shocked to see that it was a person who recklessly leaped onto the creatures back and had leaped off when the horse had begun to stumble.

"RANMA?!" the Inner Senshi gasped in shock.

"Oh, it's you again," Ranma smiled. "I've been trying to find you girls. Turns out I've got something that belongs to you."

"Huh?" wondered Sailor Moon. "What would Ranma have that belongs to us?"

"His love I hope." Sailor Venus giggled.

"Huh?" Ranam wondered, before pointing to his arm which had a small dragon wrapped around it. "Uh..no. I'm talking about-"

"SEMPAI LOOK OUT!" Sailor Jupiter cried in fear, forgetting herself for the moment.

"What did you call-WOAH!" Ranma asked before he sensed the stallion's ki racing towards him at a speed that might be able to match the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. Relying on his refexes, Ranma did a backflip and landed on the stallion's back. The enraged horse snorted angrily before it started bucking around wildly. Ranma kept a death grip around the stallion's neck so to keep from being thrown off.

'Woah horsey! Woah!" Ranma shouted loudly.

"Ranma I'm going to kill you!" Draco shouted, his face turning green.

"Get in line snake boy!" Ranma retorted.

The Stallion grew irritated before dashing off to try and get Ranma off it's back. The Senshi watched him go in quiet amazement.

"Kid's got brass ones the size of church bells," Uranus commented to herself.

A loud neigh brought everyone back to the battle with the zebra. It had gotten it's bulky body back upright again and was looking ready for another assault.

"Okay," Mars frowned. "Since Ranma got the gray one off our back, I think we might be able to win,"

"I've got it!" Mercury smiled while looking at her computer, having finally been able to scan at least one of the creatures.. "There's a small gap in the base of it's neck. If we can get an attack through there then we might be able to destroy it!"

"I've got this one!" Venus smiled confiendlt while pointing at the monster. "_Venus_ _Crescent Beam Smash!_"

The golden beam of light shot from Venus' and raced for the zebra beast. Because of it's bulky armor, the beast couldn't move fast enough to get out of the way. The beam collided with the base of the beast's neck and managed to slip into the vulnerable insides. Light burst from the seems in the armor as the the zebra neighed in pain. It glowed for a breif second before exploding in a huge flash of light and a ball of flame.

"Alright!" Sailor Moon cheered. "Way to go Venus!"

"Yeah, good job!" Jupiter agreed. "Now we got to help sempai before he gets hurt!"

"Right!" the Inner Senshi agreed.

Before anyone could actually chase after Ranma though, another loud neigh echoed through the air before it turned into a sinister laugh. Another light shone from where the Zebra had been destroyed and it looked a lot like a star was floating oner the remains. Soon, the remains started to glow before they flew into the star an dlooked like they were being melted. Another flash of light burst and the star had vanished. However, there was now a new figure in it's place. The body was of the zebra they had destroyed, but from the neck up was that of a human donned in bulky and cruel looking striped armor. It looked like it was the zebra armor remade for a human body. His face was covered by a gray helmet that hid his features in shadow.

"Well, this hasn't happened to me in a long time," the centaur laughed. "I guess my masters were right in deciding to check up on the competition."

"So you can talk," Tuxedo Kamen frowned while gripping his cane. "Who are you? Who do you work for?"

"Hmm," the centaur pondered while bringing a hand to his chin. "Both are very good questions and since I'm feeling generous from your previous victory, I'll answer one of them. My name is Zebrareous. My masters? Well, if you can defeat me then I'll tell you."

"We did it once," Sailor Neptune reminded Zebrareous. "We can do it again."

"You can try," Zebrareous sneered. To bad no one could see it.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Ranma was not having as much fun as he hoped when fighting his monster. The stallion was fast. Real fast. The thng was also pretty violent. It kept slamming Ranma into walls in attempts to get him off so it could stomp him. Fortuneately for Draco, Ranma got slammed more on his right side than his left side. Ranma was beginning to feel like he went through another fight with Ryoga. Luckily he had plenty of those so he could take it. The stallion finally ended up in a parkng lot before t decided to come to a fulll stop. The force of which threw Ranma to the ground. The stallion didn't waste anytime in trying to crush Ranma wth it's front hooves.

"Crap!" Ranma spat as he rolled to the side before getting up. "Okay horsey, you wanna play rough? that's fine with me. KACHU TENSHIN AMIGURIKEN!"

Ranma rained over a hundred blows onto the stallions body in only a second. Dazed and a little confused on how a human could do that, the stallion stumbled backwards.

"I'm not done with you yet," Ranma frowned. "MOUKO TAKABISHA!"

The orb of ki slammed into the stallion's head and sent it smashing into a car, breaking the windews and denting the frame. Ranma flinched at the destruction.

"Oh man," he groaned. "Hope that guy had insurance."

The horse got back to it's feet and shook it's head. Both sides stared each other down. Ranma wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but he sure as hell wasn't expecting the stallion's next move. The creature seemed to bur for a brief second befoe it ended up at Ranma's side. The young martial artist's eyes widened in shock just before he was kicked by the horse's back hooves and sent flying into a sold brik wall. The impact left a dent in the shape of his body before he fell to the ground.

"Ow," Ranma groaned as he sat up. "Oh yeah, this thing is defnitely on par with Herb. It hits just as hard as him."

"Ooog," Draco groaned, trying to get everythng to stop spinning. He then looked up at Ranma. "You fight like ths all the time?"

"Not usually. Only the best ones." Ranma grinned before he looked down at his shirt. It was his favorite blue one and it now had two balck horsehsoe prints in it." Oh man! This was my favorite shirt! Kasumi got this for me!"

The horse only snorted before itshook it's head in a non-caring way. Ths only got Ranma's blood to boil.While he was not academically smart, he still was an intelligent person and could easily tell when an opponent was just begging for an ass-kicking. Draco didn't like the look on Ranma's face, but what he did like was the symbol that was glowing whte over his heart. A symbol of the moon.

"Alright!" Draco cheered as he uncoiled from Ranma's arm and got to the ground. "Ranma! I found one of the knights!"

"Really?" Ranma asked, forgetting the fight at the moment. "Well? Where is he?"

"He's you!" Draco grinned. "You're Lunar! The knight of the moon!"

Saying Ranma was stunned was an understatement. His mouth was hanging open while Draco began spinning in a cirlce. There was a flash in the centre of said circle and a flat white case the size of a box of cards appeared. Draco immediately picked it up and tossed it to Ranma.

"What are these?" Ranma asked the minute dragon.

"Your Advent cards and your means of transforming!" Draco explained. "But they aren't much stronger than you are now unless you tame a star beast!"

"Hey, didn't you say that horse over there a star beast?" Ranma asked, pointing at the waiting stallion.

"Yup," Draco nodded. "If you pull out one of the blank cards you can tame that horse and make a pact with it to get stronger and bring out your full capabilities as a knight!"

Hearing this, the stallion went wild agan and charged at Ranma at full speed. The pigtailed martial artist immediately leaped over it and rolled away to get some space. The stallion quickly turned around and began to charge again.

"Well, my name does mean wild horse," Ranma smirked as he drew a card with a white square and a steel gray outline that had a white back. "Let's see if I can tame one!"

He held up the card at the horseand things started getting wierd for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. The card began to shine brightly and covered the raging stallion in the light. The horse came to a stop and thrashed wildly but it wasn't able to move away from that spot. After a moment in the light, it began to change. The amror began to turn white with gold linings. Crystal blue eyes shone from the horse's head. Ranam was amazed to see the stallion changed from an evil machine-like creature to what seemed like a peaceful white steed. The Stallion finally stopped thrashing as the light vanshed. Ranma could feel the creature's ki was much calmer now. He looked at the card and saw that an image of the horse was on it along with the name 'Stallionstar.'

"Stallionstar," Ranma read before looking to the horse. "Is that your name?"

Stallionstar snorted and bobbed his head in what seemed to be a nod. Ranma smiled and placed a hand on his armored neck. He was expacting the armor to be cold, but it was actually very warm. It was like the metal was Stallionstar's real flesh and blood. Looking back to the card, he slid it back into the case. The case then morphed to show an image of a horse's head in front of a symbol of the moon.

"All right Ranma!" Draco cheered. "Now, I can still sense that other star beast so you'd better transform if you want to beat it!"

Ranma sighed an dlooked back at the case of cards in his hand. He could feel soemthig bubbling in his mind that was telling him that he had to do this. It was even telling him how to transform. Sighing before stepping away from Stallionstar, Ranma held the case, face away from him.

"Lunar Knight Power" he called, causing a metal belt to appear on his waist in a bright flash of light. "Henshin!"

Ranma slid the case into a space for it on the front and the change began. He was enveloped in white light that spread all over his body. Stallionstar and Draco looked away from the light before it ended and the new Ranma was revealed. His chest was covered with smooth white and gold armor that didn't hinder his movements.Shoulder guards stled after a horse's head were also present. His forearms and hands wer eprtected by white gauntlets. He wa salsi wearing white boots with gold linings. He wre a black bodysuit underneath that. His helemt was also unique. it was modelled after a Roman helmet, but the front looked like a horses face. His eyes ere covered by a black visor while the rest of his face was protected by a silver vocering. A sword with a large hilt also modeled after a horse's head rested on his waist.

"Well?" asked Lunar. "How do I look?"

"Like a true knght," draco laughed. "Now, let's show everyone what a knight is made of!"

Lunar nodded before he leaped to the rooftops towards where the Senshi were.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Gah!" Sailor Uranus cried in pain as she was hurled back by a punch from Zebrareos.

The Senshi were in a sad state. Zebrareous was proving to be much faster and stronger than he was when he was a full animal. Mercury and Venus were both slammed into wall when the zebra centaur had tackled them both. Tuxedo Kamen had taken a nasty blow to the shoulder when he took a hit for Chibi-Moon. Saturn was completely drained form using her Silence Wall to protect Pluto and Mercury. Moon, Mars, and Juptier were slammed into the ground when he kicked them. Uranus, as seen before, had tried a frontal assault and got set to the pavement for her troubles.

"Is this the best you can do?" the zebra centaur sighed. "Ah well, it doesn't matter to me. So long as I can fight then I'm happy. Though too much of a good thing can be bad for you I hear."

He turned hs gaze to Sailor Moon, who was just getting back up from the blow she had been dealt.

"I guess I should end this!" he laughed before he charged towards the Salor Senshi leader, aiming to trample her.

"No!" a number of the scouts cried.

"Usako!" Tuxedo Kamen cried, trying to get up.

Sailor Moon wanted to get away, but seeing such a massive creature racing at you and being kicked by sad creature befor ereally didn't help. The mix of pain, exhaustion, and fear was keeping her still. it looked like the end was near so she prepared to have her life taken. At first, she could see the gray striped creature barreling down upon her when in the blink of an eye,a figure in white armor appeared in front of her wielding a white rapier of some sort.

"What?!" Zebrareous gasped in surprise.

The figure in white leaped at the centaur's torso and slashed in a wide arc. Sparks ripped from Zeprareos' torso, causing him to groan in pain and stop his run. The man in white twisted in mid-air and slashed Zebrareous in the back, causing the monster more pain before landing on the ground in a battle pose.

"Who are you?!" Zebrareous demanded as he turned around.

"Me?" the persona sked as he raised his sword. "I am the Royal Knight Lunar. Knight of the moon. Brigner of judgement and destroyer of evil. And in the name of the Order of Royal Knights, I will destroy you!"

'Woah,' Lunar thought to himself. 'Where'd that dorky speech come from?'

"Hmm," Zebrareous grunted. "Royal Knight eh? Wasn't expecting someone like you. I don't think you'll be much of a threat though. That little toothpick you call a sword might have hurt a little, but I don't think you'll be able to pierce my armor with it."

Lunar tilted his head at the bragging monsteer, "You know, you're probably right."

Lunar sheathed his sword and rached for the handle. He tugged on it slightly and the horse head on the hilt opened to reveal a hidden compartment. Seeing the confused looks of those around him, Lunar reached to his belt and pulled out a card. To those close enough, they could see that it depiced a lance that looked like it had a horse's tail around the hilt. (think like the hair from the Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha) Lunar then quickly slipped the card into the compartment on his sword and closed it.

"_Sword Vent_" a voice called that seemed to come from everywhere yet nowhere at all.

Lunar looked up into the sky as something flashed in the sky. He reached up as the Senshi could se something falling from the sky. It was too fast to see, but when Lunar caught it, everyone could tell what it was. It was a lance that looked like it was made of gold and had a horse's tail coming from the hilt. Lunar gripped the handle as he stared at Zebrareous.

'Hope Mom's sword lessons work for me here,' Lunar thought to himself. 'I do NOT want to have to rely on Kuno's forms.'

"Uh..so what?" Zebrareous stutted. "I bet that thing's too heavy to move properly anyway!"

That would be a problem for most people, but not for guys like Lunar. To him, the lance was as light as a feather. Deciding to skip the usual banter of combat, he charged forward with his weapon raised. Zebrareos bellowed as he charged forward as well. The two combatants raced towards each other. Lunar leaped again while Zebrareous tried to punch him with his armored fist. Lunar managed to twist in mid-air again before slashing Zebrareous in the arm. This time actual blood was drawn as the armor cracked. Landing behind Zebrareous again, he slashed his back legs, causing the centaur to stumble. Lunar then leaped back a fair distance before he opened the compartment on his first sword and drew a new card. He then slid it inside the hilt and closed it.

"_Final Vent_," was called as it took effect.

A loud neighting caught everyone's attention as Stallionstar appeared behind Lunar and was racing up to him from behind. Of coure, the Senshi recognied him as the horse that Ranma had been fighting. The only one who weren't beng scared by it's appearace was Pluto.

"Lunar look out!" shouted Mercury.

The white knight just stood still as the stallion raced closer. At the last second, he leaped straight up and came back down on Stallionstar's back. The two continued on their path towards the fallen Zebrareous.

"_Meteor Joust!_" Lunar roared as Stallionstar increased his speed.

The two became a blur of white as they continued on towards thir target.

"SHISHIN!" Zebrareous roared as he was pierced by the lance and run through. His body exploded into rubble again as Stallionstar came to a stop. Lunar looked at the remains until the same energy orb as before appeared above them. Acting quickly, he reached to his belt and drew a new card before sliding it into his sword again.

"_Seal Vent_," the voice called.

Stallionstar immediately reared and neighed loudly as his body glowed with white energy. The orb reacted to it as well and was drawn towards the horse. When the two touched, Stallionstar absorbed the energy before coming to a rest, his hooves making clomping sound on the pavement and the glow faded. Everything was silent s the Senshi watched with impressed eyes or awe-filled gazes. Only Chbi-Moon had enough sense to say anything.

"Sugoi," she said in almost a whisper.

To Be Continued.

A/N: There we go. Ranma has become Lunar and captured a star beast to share his power with. I decded to use the Sailor Senshi attacks from the english series because they sound more sentai-ish to me. Now the Senshi have seen what Lunar is capable of. If there are any Kamen Rider fans out there, I hope you enjoy what I infused into this story. I wanted a way to be unque from other Ranma 1/2/Sailor Moon fics. How am I doing?


	3. Circus Rides and Pissed Off Pigs

I do not own Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, or Kamen Rider Ryuki. Those all belong to their respective creators and not me. Anyone who wants to sue me saying otherwise should have their heads examined. Now that the legal crap is over with let's get on with the fic!

-Ten-Faced Paladin

Knights of the Silver Millenium

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 3: Circus Rides and Pissed Off Pigs

It was like something out of a fairytale. One minute, the Senshi were losing badly to a centaur named Zebrareous and were about to witness their leader being trampled. The next minute, a man donned in white armor leaped from nowhere and saved them. The same warrior then summoned a beautiful white stallion and destroyed the centaur before absorbing the sphere of energy it left behind into his steed. Now he was just resting on his horse's back. If one could have seen his face, they would have seen a broad smile on his face.

"Whew," Lunar sighed as he leaped from the back of his horse to the ground. "Not bad for a first run was it Stallionstar?"

The horse neighed before shaking it's head in agreement. Lunar chuckled before he turned to look at the assorted Senshi and their well-dressed comrade. Everyone was still pretty much surprised to see this newcomer. It was Chibi-Moon who decided to break the ice, mainly because she was quickly developing an idol-worship towards this new hero.

"Um...," she began. "Just who are you mister?"

"Me?" Lunar asked while pointing to himself. "Uh..I'm Royal Knight Lunar. Sorry 'bout this."

"What do you have to be sorry about?" asked Sailor Neptune.

"Uh...as of right now? Not sure," Lunar shrugged. "I seem to say that mostly by habit these days."

The white and gold horse snorted and neighed loudly. Lunar turned around with placating gestures at the ready, "Okay okay! Ladies and gentleman, I'd like to introduce my star beast, Stallionstar."

"But... isn't that the other creature we were fighting a minute ago?" asked Sailor Mars suspiciously.

"Well," Lunar began to reply rather nervously. "He...uh..well...funny story about that."

"I'll explain about that," a new voice replied. The Senshi looked down near Lunar's feet and saw what seemed to be a small dragon coiled in on itself.

"Ahh! A snake!" Sailor Moon cried while recoiling slightly.

"I AM NOT A SNAKE!" Draco snapped before seeing that it was Sailor Moon who said the snake comment. The tiny dragon blanched visibly for a moment. "Uh...my apologies your majesty. Anyway, where were we?"

"You were going to explain why the horse that was trying to kill us before is now on our side," said Sailor Jupiter.

"Ah, yes," Draco nodded. "Well, the creature you fought and Stallionstar here aren't youma. Very far from it actually. They are called star beasts."

"Star beasts?" asked Sailor Uranus. "What are those?"

"Well," Draco explained. "Star beasts are the physical manifestations of single stars and celestial bodies. They come in three forms. Human, beast and hybrid. They have the ability to shift between forms, but like Stallionstar, they prefer to stay in animal form."

The stallion snorted, agreeing with the tiny dragon.

"Usually star beasts are very much neutral in affairs of the universe," Draco continued. "However, like any beast, they can be tamed and put towards a cause. They are also incredibly powerful creatures. When Queen Serenity had heard of them, she had searched out an alliance with them. This was when the Royal Order of Celestial Knights was born. One chamption was chosen from each planet and each of them selected a star beast to share their power with."

Stallionstar snorted in pride at this.

"What concerns me is that a large amount of negative energy is needed to corrupt a star beast as much as Zebrareous and Stallionstar were," Draco frowned. "Luckily, Lunar here didn't have a star beast when he awakened."

Lunar rubbed the back of his neck, his face would have been red if anyone could see it, "Heh, it was nothing."

"Oh my gosh!" Sailor Venus gasped. "What happened to Ranma?!"

"Huh?" was the common question that Draco and Lunar shared.

"He's a guy dressed in Chinese clothes and had black hair tied in a pigtail," Venus explained hurriedly. "Did you see him when you found Stallionstar?"

"Uh...yeah," Lunar nodded. "He's fine. Uh..."

He wasn't liking a number of looks he was getting from the Inner Senshi. They seemed to get a look in their eyes that Lunar recognised in his fiancees. There was a kind of difference in the Senshi's eyes than from that of the fiancees. He didn't recognise it, but he probably wouldn't when one looked at his life. It was genuine worry and care that was in their eyes. Not a drop of competition there at all.

"Well?" asked Sailor Jupiter. "Where is he?"

"Oh, he's over that way," Lunar replied pointing in the direction he came before stiffening at realizing how royally screwed he was. Ranma Saotome was not that way. he had become Lunar before returning to the Senshi to fight Zebrareous.

Sensing the impending doom, Draco leaped into action by coiling onto Ranma's leg before climbing up onto his shoulder, "Well Lunar, I really think we should get going. We still have other knight stuff to do."

"We do?" Lunar as stupidly before Draco glared at him. "Oh! Yeah, we do! I'll see you girls later!"

"Wait!" Jupiter cried as Lunar began roofhopping away. She sighed as he vanished. "I wanted to know if Sempai was okay."

"I'm pretty sure that he's okay," Mercury reasoned. "If Ranma was hurt then Lunar wouldn't have left him there."

"I wouldn't worry," Sailor Moon smiled. "I'm sure he wouldn't do that."

"Normally I'd disagree, but for some reason I can't helo but feel that you're right," Mars reluctantly agreed.

Saturn yawned as her exhaustion caught up with her. The Outers, deciding that they should take the Senshi of Silence back home for rest, headed for home. This new knight might actually be helpful if these evil star beasts were as bad as the tiny dragon had told them. That is, if he wasn't an enemy in disguise.

-------------------------------------------------------

While the Senshi were heading back for their homes, the four figures from before were reviewing the battle on the crystal that was seated in the centre of their prison. Byakko watched in mild respect at the white knight who had tamed one beast and destroyed another. Genbu was growlng in anger at what he saw. Suzaku wondered if she could possibly seduce the white knight. Seiryuu was going over aspects of the battle in hs mind.

"Deductions?" the blue warrior asked his comrades.

"The Sailor Senshi may become a threat if they gain enough experience fighting the star beasts or if more of these knights appear," Byakko stated. "I would advise against another direct attack."

"You always were the cowardly one Byakko!" Genbu snapped. "You saw how easily Zebrareous was beating those Senshi! I vote we go on a massive offensive if we want to get rid of our enemies if we want to claim our prize!"

"And you were always the stupid one," Suzaku sniffed. "Causing trouble like that would only bring more defenders down on us as it is. Pharaoh 90 may have been a fool, but the tactics of his minions were clever. Slow and steady wins the race after all. A turtle such as you should know that Genbu."

"Look where those tactics got that idiot Pharaoh 90!" Genbu bellowed. "He's dead and lost all his power! Lost it all because he couldn't just go ahead and do what needed to be done!"

"I disagree," Byakko spoke calmly. "Pharaoh 90 was defeated because he was unprepared. Sailor Saturn was a suprise addition to his enemy's ranks that could have been easily prepared for but his eagerness caused him to overlook that fact. We know the enemy and the wild card is that knight. We know what he is capable for now but we cannot be certain if more knights will appear. We need to plan ahead."

"Enough," Seiryuu spoke loudly. "We must remember our goal. The thing that we are striving for."

"Yes," Suzaku agreed. "The Saint Beasts"

"Agreed," Byakko nodded. "They will be our salvation."

"The end of our imprisonment," Genbu snorted.

Seiryuu then stood up and gripped his weapon before stomping towards the crystal. The pale light from the crystal made his armor gleam in the darkness. It had also caught the edges of something that was hidden while he sat down. A cold gray belt that had a dark blue square in the centre. On that square was a chinese dragon going in a figure eight with the black moon symbol of the Negaverse behind it.

"For now we should concentrate on those who may be the Saint Beasts reborn," Seiryuu continued while raising his bladed polearm. "Now, let us select a target."

Seiryuu's weapon began crackling with blue lightning bolts that lashed out in the air. He brought the weapon down and allowed it to touch the crystal and the energy ripped through the crystal itself. It glowed incredibly bright before a faded image appeared on it's surface. it was ayoung woman in a school uniform holding the arm of a boy with spiral glasses.

"She might hold one of the Saint Beasts?" asked Suzaku. "Doesn't look like much. I am far more beautiful than her."

"Tut tut Suzaku," Genbu laughed. "Looks aren't everything after all. Just who are we looking at Seiryuu?"

Seiryuu drew back his weapon and allowed the energy from the crystal to be drawn back into him. He was silent for a moment before he returned to his throne. His comrades were silent for a moment before he gazed at each of them.

"Her name, my comrades, is Naru Osaka," Seiryuu reported. "She is a senior at the junior high in the district of Tokyo called Juuban. We should be wary when we try to trap her. She has been attacked more than once by those of the Dark Kingdom. Pharaoh 90's daimon have attacked her boyfriend for his pure heart as well."

"So she is well aware of magic and the creatures of the Negaverse," Byakko reasoned. "All the more need to plan carefully."

"Indeed," Seiryuu agreed. "Now, how shall we claim her star beast?"

------------------------------------------------------------

Ranma was leaping from rooftop to rooftop on his way back home. he had discovered that by removing the case from his belt. It allowed the the armor to vanish, belt and all. When he was satisifed that he was back to normal, well normal for him at least, he decided to get some answers.

"Okay Draco," Ranma frowned. "Spill. What were those cards that I was using."

"Your advent cards," Draco replied. "When the first knights were partnered with their star beasts they discovered the cards were magic spells that were able to summon the beasts, weapons, or even combine their magic into attacks like your Meteor Joust."

"Cool," Ranma nodded. "Guess that makes sense. Oh, before I forget."

WHAM!!

"Owww!" Draco hissed while reachng to the goose egg that Ranma had planted into his head. "What was that for?!"

"For biting me earlier," Ranma replied with a frown. "Now we're even."

Draco grumbled and rubbed his head as Ranma continued on his way. However, it seemed that lady luck had decided that Ranma had enough of a break from her bad side and had mother nature unleash a light rainfall on the reborn knight and turning him into a her.

"Huh?!" Draco gaped. "Ranma? What the heck happened to you?! Weren't you a boy a minute ago?"

"Wonderful," Ranma growled. "A perfect way to end the day. I don't suppose Jusenkyo was around during the Silver Millenium?"

"The pools of sorrow?!" Draco gasped. "That place is a gyser of chaos magic! What on earth were you doing there?"

"Well Draco," Ranma sighed. "That's a funny story."

"I do have some time on my hands right now," Draco shrugged.

Smiling slightly, Ranma began telling the story of her life. Had to pass time somehow on the way home.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Haruka opened the door to her home as her family followed her inside. Michiru stretched slightly with a relaxing sigh,(making her look incredibly sexy to the the blonde tomboy) as Hotaru walked insde alongside Setsuna.

"So Setsuna," Haruk spoke as she sat down on the couch. "No doubt you know about our new friend?"

"Yes," Setsuna nodded. "You can relax though, he is an ally and I can't see him betraying us anytime soon."

"Oh," Haruka blinked. Usually Setsuna wasn't so forward with information. "Alright then."

With that particular issue out of the way for now, Hotaru decided to ask something that had been bugging her.

"Michiru-mama," she spoke up. "Where did you meet Ranma-niichan?"

"Ranma-niichan?" asked Haruka while Setsuna smiled slightly at the cuteness.

"Hmm," Michiru thought. "Well, since the others shared then I guess I could too..."

----------------------**Michiru's story**------------------------------------

Mchiru was standing on stage with her violin ready for her song. She was about two years younger than she was now and hadn't even awakened as Sailor Neptune yet. She was onstage for one of her many recitals at one of the fancy parties that she often had to go to. Banishing any doubt from her mind, she began playing. As she continued on with her song, she idly noticed a small ruckus at the back where the people were would usually talk and be merry near the food. It seemed that everyone was staying far away from it because of a boy with a pigtail and a man with glasses that were standing there. They were wearing some black suits but were obviously not making much of an effort to keep them clean. It was obvious since they were eatng like there was no tomorrow. The upper class side of Michru found it a little apallng that they were acting that way, but the teenage girl side found it amusing and fortunate that those two were there to liven up the party somewhat. By the time that Michiru had finished her piece, the two had demolished half the buffet. The cooks were scrambling to refill they places had been. Michiru had to supress a giggle.

Having taken a break for the night and let the band play the music, she decided to meet the young man who seemed to have a brash charm around him. She stepped closer to where the boy and man were feasting at a speed that could easily match Usagi. As she managed to step closer, she actually saw that the two were actually fghting while eating as much as they could. The man was losing spectacularly and seemed not to be taking it well. After another minute, the young man stopped eating and sighed happily.

"Ahh," the boy grinned. "Haven't eaten that well in a long time. So Pop, where is this guy I'm supposed to fight?"

'Fight?' Michiru asked herself. 'He's going to fight someoen here? Is he insane? Security would be on him in an instant.'

"Watch what you say boy," the man growled as he stuffed his face."I did not have you trained in this style just for you to speak of it like that. Remember, Kamiya-san is offering a prize to anyone who can beat him."

"You'd better be willing to share that prize," the boy frowned. "I didn't go through that embarrasing training for nothing."

A bun was suddenly flung through the air before it collided with the boy's head before the man growled at him, "Have you forgotten boy? You need a partner for this!"

"Sure," the boy frowned. "I haven't forgotten."

Michiru listened in extreme interest. were they talking about the same Kamiya that had thrown this party? He was said to be a very accomplished martial artist. She had also heard rumors that he had founded a new martial arts style after he had an extended stay in England. He had only taught his closest pupils and they were tight lipped about it. She had also heard that he was offering a prize to anyone who could beat him in a match with that style.

As she was going over these details, she didn't notice the boy walk over to her while his father was continuing to stuff his face. In fact, she hadn't noticed until he was standing right in front of her.

"Um," the boy frowned while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I, uh, don't want to sound too forward or anything, but I was wondering if you would like to have the next dance."

Michiru looked up at the boy as he asked his question, 'hmm, he is rather handsome I suppose. If I was attracted to men I might just try to court him.' she thought to herself. 'May I know who is asking me for a dance?"

"Oh," the boy grinned. "I'm Ranma Saotome of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"A pleasure to meet you Saotome-san," Michiru curtsied, following the western code of conduct as was the theme of the party.

"Ah, just call me Ranma," the pig-tailed youth girrned. "Everyone calls my pop Saotome and I like to think myself as nothing like him."

"Alright Ranma," Michiru smiled. "My name is Michru Kaioh. But please call me Michiru. As to the dance, I would be happy to dance with you."

Michiru held out her hand and Ranma took it before they went out to the dance floor. The both bowed to each before Michiru took his right hand and Ranma plced his left on her waist before beginning to dance. Michiru felt herself being swept away in the moves of the dance. She was quickly discovering that Ranma was very graceful. She was actually enjoying dancing more than she usually did. Ranma somehow made it exciting. Whichever girl ended up with him would be very lucky on the dance floor. Deciding to try to at least get to know the boy, Michiru started a conversation.

"So Ranma," she spoke. "What was this fight that I was hearing you and your father talking about? Are you going to fight Kamiya-san?"

"Heh," Ranma grinned nervously. "Actually, we're fighting him right now."

"What?!" Michiru whispered in shock.

"You hear about his hidden style?" Ranma asked. "Well, it's called Martial Arts Ballroom Dancing. He's been taking shots at me ever since the song started."

Michuru looked around and noticed Kamiya-san glide past. For a second, she could have sworn she saw his hand leave his partner's waist and try to get a kidney shot. Michiru and Ranma dipped slightly so Ranma could block the blow with his elbow. Michiru wasn't a real martial artist but even she could see the amount of skill that was going into this fight. These two were going at each other and no one was the wiser! Michiru didn't want to be dead weight so she decided to help.

"Ranma," she whispered. "How does a match with this style work?"

Ranma blinked in surprise for a moment. He looked to see that Kamiya was on the other side of the room before he decided that it was safe for the moment, "Okay, the two combatants are supposed to begin on opposite sides of the room with their partners and make their way towards each other and trade blows as they pass. Speed and flexibility is key because you can't get noticed or else you lose. Endurance helps but he is so good at this he can fight without his partner even noticing. Usually it's a team battle unless your opponent is the one you are dancing with."

"What does the partner do?" Michiru asked. She had to admit, this was rather excting.

"The partners usually keep an eye out for attacks," Ranma explained. "If it's a man they can use punches since out arms are our there but women can use hidden kicks because of the long dresses."

"Look out for attacks?" Michiru asked while looking over Ranma's shoulder. "Well then he's coming to your left."

Ranma immediately swerved to the right in the pace of the song just as Kamiya had went past. Ranma smiled as they went. Michiru wondered what he was so cocky about when Kamya suddenly staggered, almost tripping and bringing his partner down with him. Ranma smirked victoriously as Kamiya gt back up and admitted defeat by walkng off the dancefloor. When the song ended Michiru invited Ranma to her table.

"That was rather exciting," she smiled in delight.

"I've dealt with crazier challenges. Usually a lot more violent too," Ranma chuckled. "You know, it's wierd. Pop says all this crap about girls that I'm not even sure is half true and here I find that more and more of it is crap. Even if I still don't fight girls."

"Oh?" Michiru wondered. "Why not?"

Ranma thought about it for a moment, "Two reasons I guess. One is that most girls aren't martial artists. Another is that it doesn't seem right to me really."

"And they say chivalry is dead," Michiru smiled. "Just remember though, it would be rude to the female martial artists if you don't take them seriously. I've seen enough matches to learn that."

"I take all challenges seriously," Ranma said evenly. "Regardless of gender."

"Good," Michiru smiled as she raised her glass of chanpagne. "To new friends?"

"Sound sgood to me," Ranma grinned as he raised his own glass.

The glasses made a musical ringing sound as the two new frends began talking while Genma continued to gorge himself on the buffet.

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"He's a very nice young man," Michiru smiled. "I wonder if he took my...Haruka?"

Said woman was lying back on the couch, just laughing up a storm at hearing about Ranma's little adventure with Michiru.

"Wa ha ha!" she guffawed. "Ranma Saotome, 'Pfft!' Ballroom dancng! 'snort' I'd pay money to see that!"

"You'd be surprised," Michiru smiled as she saw Hotaru giggling while Setsuna had a wider smile. "He's very graceful and light on his feet."

She could understand their laughter. Ranma seemed more of the manly type rather than the cultured kind that would be ballroom dancing.

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A new day dawned for the residents of the Tendo Dojo. Genma had too much of a hangover from yesterday so Ranma was able to walk downstairs like normal people. It was Sunday too so he got to sleep in for a change. He said his good mornings to Kasumi who smiled brightly in reply. He idly noticed that Draco was perched on her shoulder and testing her cooking.

When he had returned home a few days ago, the three Tendo girls were all over him for info. Draco had warned him that tellng people that he was a knight could put them at risk if his enemies ever found out who he was. Kasumi's questions were easy enough to answer. She just wanted to know if the Senshi were okay and how many were there. When he mention Tuxedo Kamen, she sighed dreamily. Akane wanted to know who the knght was and Ranma had to lie saying he didn't know bcause Draco actually wouldn't let him see. In truth, Draco had answered that one. Nabiki was the worst of the three. She wanted to know all info about the new knight. She was relelntless too. Ranma was sure that she could tell he was lying.

"What's up doc?" Draco asked as he slithered up to Ranma.

"You shouldn't watch Nabiki's gaijin cartoons," Ranma groaned as he spread his advent cards across the table since no one was there yet. "You're annoying. Second, just how many knights are there anyway?"

"Dunno," Draco shrugged. "I never met them all. I think there' one for every planet in the system, but if there's more then I can't be sure."

"Some help you are," Ranma frowned as he slipped his cards back into their case. "I have a shrimpy, clueless advisor. If I weren't the best martial artist around then we'd be in real trouble."

CHOMP! "OWWWW!"

Draco didn't take too kindly to beng called shrimpy again and thus chomped Ranma's arm again. Ranma then retalliated by pucnhing him on his reptillian head. Nabiki heard the ruckuss and nodded in satsifaction her day right on track. it wouldn't feel right if Ranma didn't have his morning brawl. Only one thing was left to get the day going.

"RANMA NO BAKA! Don't tease Draco!"

WHAM!

There it was. Nabiki looked to her window and saw Ranma flyng off in the distance. She idly noticed that Draco was wrapped around his arm. Maybe what some people were saying was true. Akane's temper was probably getting worse. If this kept up then maybe something should be done. Kasumi just sighed in small disappointment. Ranma and Akane were doing so well after their fathers had tried to throw a wedding. What went wrong?

--------------------------------------------------------------

"The circus! The circus!" Chibi-Usa cheered as she, Hotaru, and the Inners walked past the main gates to the bright and loud event.

It was an event that drew in a number of people. Chibi-Usa immediately wanted to go when she saw the posters. Minako was just as enthusiastic about it, but Usagi was ready to burst in excitement. Rei was dragged along while Ami and Makoto decided to join in just for the fun. Also, Usagi just couldn't go to someplace like this without her Mamo-chan so the young man had found himslef with an overjoyed blonde attatched ot his arm. They all went to the event and found that it was living up to the hype. There were dozens of rides and lots of snack stalls. These alone made Usagi break out drooling.

"Oh wow!" Minako smiled. "There's so much stuff!"

"I haven't been to fairs like these in a long time," Ami smiled.

"Really?" asked Hotaru. "I've never been to one."

"Usagi-chan!" soemone called. Everyone looked to where the voice had come from and were pleasantly surprised to see ther friends Naru and Umino racing up to them.

"Naru-chan!" Usagi squaled as she and her frieds raiced up to the couple. "When did you get here?"

"We got here a while ago," Umino replied. "We've been on almost every ride here!"

"Yeah," Naru smiled. "And you only got sick on two of them."

Umino blushed embarrasedly while Naru giggled. The other girls joined in at seeing the boy blushing up a storm. Naru hugged his arm tighter before turning back to her friends, "So, what are you going to do first?"

"I want to see the rides!" Minako replied.

"I wanted to get some snacks," Usagi smiled before looking to Mamoru. "Will you get me some Mamo-chan?"

"We'll see Usako," Mamoru sweatdropped.

"Do you have any suggestions on where we should go first Naru?" asked Ami

"Well," Naru replied. "Umino and I were going to were going to the petting zoo. Do you want to come?"

The positive reply given by the girls who had images of cute little animals in their minds. Darien and Umino knew better than to voice their own wishes of where they would like to go. They were not only escorting some ladies, but they knew that they wouldn't win. They were dealing with cute animals and were vastly outnumbered. In other words, resistance was futile.

It wasn't long before the girls were led by Naru straight to the tent where the animals were kept. Almost immediately the girls went into transpirts of delight. Usagi, Chibi-Usa, and Hotaru immediately found themselves drawn to the tiny bunnies. The irony was not lost on their friends. Minako was amusing herself with the goats while Rei and Makoto were admiring the small ponies. Ami giggled as she gently stroked the wool of a lamb. Naru had dragged Umino over to another pen and was enjoying being with one of the piglets inside.

"Bwee," the black piglet sqealed as Naru hugged it close. Umino wasn't sure why, but seeing the pig blush made him want to hurt it.

"Oooh!" Naru gushed. "This one is just so cute! His little bandanna is just adorable! Oh I wish I could take him home with me. I even know what I'd call him. P-chan!"

Seeing a small piglet sweatdrop was something to see. Of course, 'P-chan' was not having the most wonderful time of his life at the moment. He was looking for the Tendo Dojo and got splashed, turning him into his pig form again. Not one to be deterred, Ryoga just continued searching for the Tendo Dojo and his love Akane, not even noticing that he passed it four times. Eventually he ended up in what looked like a fair of some kind and he realised that this was a perfect place for him to take Akane. He was about to try and find the dojo again when one of the workers had mistaken him for a part of the petting zoo and threw him in with the other piglets. For hours he had beeen subjected to the tortures of affectionate women and children.

"Ranma, this is all your fault!" Ryoga raged internally.

One thing was kind of bugging him though. There was this gray pig hanging out in the corner of the pen. No one really noticed it and thus no one tried to pet it. The thing gave Ryoga the creeps. It kept staring at him for some reason. He'd think about it later after he changed back and gave Ranma the thrashing he so richly deserved.

As Naru cuddled with the eternally lost piglet, an anouncement came over hidden speakers that were planted everywhere, "Attention everyone! There is a show starting under the big top in ten minutes! If you want a good seat then you had better hurry! Seating is limited!"

"Mamo-chan!" Usagi cried as she grasped her boyfriends arm. "We have to hurry! You heard what they said!"

"She's right," Chini-Usa agreed as she latched onto Mamoru's other arm. "Seating is limited! We gotta hurry!"

The girls each felt that this was one for the books. Usagi and Chibi-Usa agreeing on something almost instantly was a pretty rare thing. Usually the two were at each others throats over things as little as lemon pie.

As they were making their way over to the main tent, someone else was about to make a crash landing inside of it.

RIP! CRASH!

"Stupid tomboy," Ranma growled as he sat up, taking stock of his surroundings. His recovery time was getting faster. Akane was losing her touch.

He had landed in some kind of arena where some people were sitting. Somehow, against all odds, no one had noticed his little entrance. The only one who did was a five-year old kid who thought it was just plain awesome. (Later when he would try to tell his friends, they wouldn't believe him.) The place was well lit so the hole Ranma made wasn't noticeable unless someone looked up at it. The stands were soon to be filled as more and more people were settling in.

"Ow," draco groaned as he got the stars out of his eyes. "What do you have against tomboys anyway?"

"Nothing," Ranma sighed. "It's the macho ones who think they're so damn great that I can't stand."

"Yeah," Draco nodded. "I noticed Akane has a pride streak a mile wide. I also notice she somehow brings out the worst in you. I've never seen you pick fights with anyone else as fast as her. Not even that Kuno guy."

"You really thnk so?" Ranma pondered. "I never noticed."

"Yeah," Draco nodded. "Anyway, I'd better hide before people start noticing me."

"Why?" Ranma asked with a smirk. "If you hide your arms then you look like a snake."

"I AM NOT A SNAKE!" Draco hissed before chomping into Ranma's arm again.

The Martial artis was about to bop him in the head again whe he saw that Draco was actually meging with his shirt! The change was very swift but when it was done, there was a picture of a Chinese dragon wrapped around his sleeve.

"Hmm," Ranma blinked. "Wish I could do that. Make it easer to avoid everyone else."

He let his eyes wander before he looked to the entrances where people were pouring in. He knew that he was in Juuban, but he wasn't sure where. He knew he was in Juuban at least because he saw the Crown Arcade during his flight. Now all he had to do was find his way back, or at least find his mom. Right now though, he seemed to have stumbled onto a free show so he might as well enjoy it. He was about to lean back when he saw a group of girls walking into the tent and he did a double take when he recognised one of them.

"Well, small world," he smiled before standing up. "Hey, Hotaru-chan!"

The violet-haired girl looked around in confusion for a moment before she looked to the stands and spied Ranma. She then broke out in a huge smile before she ran as fast as she could for the stands. The minute she got close enough, she captured Ranma in a powerful glomp which forced him back into his seat.

"Ranma-niichan!" Hotaru cried in delight. "When did you get here?"

"Oh just now. Akane-Air as usual." Ranma replied.

"Still that bad?" Hotaru asked in concern for her friend as she backed away slightly.

"I survive," Ranma shrugged.

Further conversation was halted when Hotaru's friends managed to catch up to her. There were one or two faces that he didn't recognise, but the rest were VERY familiar.

"Huh?" Ranma gaped. "Have me met? I swear I've seen a few of you before."

The new arrivals sweatdropped at the words. Well, being on a ten year training trip wher eyou got your head clobbered a few times probably wasn't healthy for the memory. Then again, a year of having to live with a group of posessive fiancees and clueless rivals was probably not going to be much help either. Makoto was first to react as she stepped closer while trying to look cute. She was now reunited with her sempai and for some reason, she was feeling a little nervous.

"Don't you remember me Sempai?" she asked, hiding her insecurity.

Ranma brought his hand to his chin as he thought about it. The girl had called him sempai so there was probably going to be some kind of memory attatched to it. After he thought about it for a few moments, it all suddenly came back to him. His first unoffical student, the girl and her grandmother who snapped him out of Neko-Ken, the nice girl who taught him to read, and the odango head who he used to play with.

"Oh that's right!" Ranma grinned. "Mako-chan!"

"You remember me!" Makoto smiled in delight before she captured Ranma in a hug. For the second time, his reflex action to being hugged by a grl didn't kick in. He remembered Makoto as a good friend and not some kind of fiancee. Usually he might be suspicious that his father would have tried to get an engagement for food or money but he remembered that the fat panda never met her.

"Wow, it's been years," Ranma grinned."I'm kinda surprised that you're friends with Ami-chan, Usagi-chan, and Rei-chan though."

"Well It's a small world after all Ranma," Rei smiled as she captured him in her own hug. "I've missed you."

"Yeah, I missed you too," Ranma chuckled before he let go and hugged Ami. "Still learning to be a doctor Ami-chan?"

"Yes," Ami blushed as she held Ranma tightly. "Is your father still a cheap bum?"

The assorted Sesnshi all felt surprise at hearing Ami talk that way about someone. She was usually very quiet and reserved. She was also incredibly polite. For her to talk about someone that way, that person must be incredibly awful.

"Is the sun bright?" Ranma asked in resonse.

"RANCHAN!!!" Usagi squealed as she latched onto Ranma from behind. "I missed you sooooooo much!"

This time, Ranma flinched slightly from the huggle attack but he managed to keep himself under control. Shampoo usually glomped him from behind when she tried to seduce him in her own ways. Hugging the girls here was no problem because to him, they were old friends.

"Missed you too odango," Ranma grimaced. "Who are your friends though? Did you get a little sister while I was gone?"

He spoke in regards to Chbi-Usa. He had to admit, the two were remarkably similar. They wore their hair in similar styles and ther faces had a distinct resemblance. Of course, Chibi-Usa and Usagi immediately began denying this.

"Oh no way!" Usagi laughed nervously. "She's just a younger cousin who's staying with us for a while."

"Yeah," Chibi-Usa nodded. "Our looks are just a coincedence! And my name's Chibi-Usa"

Ranma just nodded before lookng to Mamoru, "And just who is this guy that you seemed so attatched to Usagi-chan? Don't tell me that Bunny got a boyfriend."

"It's true," Mamoru laughed while extending his hand. "My name's Mamoru Chiba."

"Ranma Saotome," Ranma grinned while he shook Mamoru's hand. "You must be something else if you can keep up with Usagi-chan here."

"Ranchan, I'm not that bad!" Usagi huffed.

Minako deicded that she had enough of waiting around before she planted herself in front of Ranma with the brightest smile on her face. She knew that he wouldn't recognise her unless she was in her Sailor V outfit again so she would just have to start fresh with him.

"Hi! I'm Mnako Aino," she smiled. "Any friend of Usagi's is a friend of mine!"

"Pleasure," Ranma laughed nervously. She reminded him of Shampoo in a way. Only Minako was friendlier and not as forward as she was. The odd thing was that she remnded him of Sailor V for some reason and he wasn't sure why.

Before anymore introductions could be made, the lights started to dim so everyone took ther seats. Makoto and Minako had both taken a seat on either side of Ranma. Mamoru was finding himself in a similar position between Usagi and Chibi-Usa. Ami and Rei were next to Makoto while Hotaru sat next to Chibi-Usa.

"Hey, where's Naru and Umino?" Usagi asked in a whisper.

"They came in a bit later," Ami replied. "I think they're in the front row somewhere."

Further conversation was halted when a spotlight appeared in the centre of the room. Standing in it was a man dressed in a red jacket with white pants and was wearing a top hat.

"Welcome everyone to the Four Beasts circus!" the Ringmaster announced and was met with applause. When it died down he began to speak again. "Before we begin the show, I think I might just need an assistant tonight. Is there anyone interested in the job?"

Dozens of people raised their hands. This included Minako, Usagi, and Chibi-Usa. The ringmaster just searched through the crowds until he saw a familiar face sitting at the front row. Naru Osaka. He smiled as an evil glimmer came to his eyes. Finally putting his plan into motion, he began speaking again.

"Would the young and very beautiful Naru Osaka please step into the ring," he asked with a grin. "You have been chosen as tonights assistant ringmaster!"

"Me?!" Naru squeaked in surpise. Not needing anouther hint, she immediately walked into the spotlight.

The ringmaster smiled as he reached nto his jacket for something. He pulled it back out holding a card. Ranma glimpsed at it and suddenly recognised it as one like he had used to tame Stallionstar.

'It's a trap!' he thought loudly to himself.

_'No kidding!'_ Draco's voice rang in his mind. '_That guy must be working for the enemy! You have to stop him!'_

Ranma was slightly stunned by heating the minature dragn's voice in his head. Of course, that spare second was all the ringmaster really needed. He drew back his arm and threwthe card straight at Naru. it stuck to the confused girl's chest for only a moment before dark energy began to crackle through her body. The pan felt intense and she felt like someone was tearing her very soul away. She screamed in pain while the ringmaster cackled.

"Naru-chan!" both Usagi and Umino shouted at the same time.

"Well, now that I've found the girl, I've got no more reason to hide!" the ringmaster grinned.

The ringmaster began to growl loudly before his entire body began to swell an change. His skin turned gray as his outfit was torn apart. His mutation was swift and it looked painless. When it was done, the Senshi and Ranma knew they were looking at a star beast. This one seemed more like a minotaur from the waist down The only thing different was the scally torso and clawed hads it had along with the lion's head it sported. it also had three tails. One lion, one snake, and one goat.

"Ha ha ha!" the star beast cackled. "I am Chimeracon! Now, let the star beast of Naru Osaka be revealed!"

Naru cried out in pain one last time befor she fell to the ground. Chimeracon grinned as he began stomping towards her. The crowds were going crazy at this time. Monsters generally had that effect on people.With everyone racing to get out of the tent, it gave Ranma perfect cover in getting away fast enough so he could transform. the Senshi had thought likewise and were trying to find a private place.

----------------------------------------------------------

Ryoga heard the screams of terror and knew that t was trouble. However, he really wasn't in any shape to do something about it. When the scream started however, the grey pighad finally gotten up. It seemed to be listening for a moment before it turned it's gaze towards Ryoga.

"_I know that is not your true form young one,_" Ryoga heard a voice in his head speak. "_One of the corrupted is near. We must hurry if we plan to stop it._"

With that, the pig began to change. It's mass grew significant;y until it was beig enough to match the size of a car. After that, the vsage of an animal vanished to become that of an armored pig. The armor was all gray with darker gray lining. It had beady whte eyes that seemed to have intent. It had also grown tusks that looked incredibly sharp. It looked a lot like a living tank except for the firepower.

"Bwee?" Ryoga oinked in amazement. Now why couldn't he change into something cool like that?

"_Follow me young one!_" the great boar ordered before it smashed through the tent wall. Ryoga just blinked for a moment before he followed.

Maybe that boar would teach him how to change into that cool form. That way he could really beatt Ranma once and for all!

---------------------------------------------------------

Ranma managed to duck behind the stands as the last people got out of the tent. Draco seperated himself from Ranma's shirt and leaped to the ground as Ranma pulled out his whte case.

"You make sure that the girls are safe," Ranma ordered. "Got it?"

"Got it!" Draco saluted like a military man.

Ranma nodded as he raised the case in front of him, "Lunar Knight Power!" the steel belt appeared over his waist. "Henshin!"

Ranma's body was engulfed in whte light as he became Lunar. When the change was complete, he drew his sword and headed out to face Chmeracon.

"Hey, fur face!" Lunar called as he began running up to the rouge star beast.

Chimeracon turned around from where he was about to take the card away from Naru and faced Lunar, "What did you call me boy?!"

"Fur face! You deaf or something?" Lunar laughed. Usually he would have freaked about his cat-like qualities, but seeing the mess of other creatures in Chimeracon, the fear didn't really kick in.

"How dare you!" Chimeracon growled while baring his claws "I'll rip you to shreds!"

"Hold it!" a female voice called, catching both combatants' attention. They both looked up to see a group of seven young women, two of which seemed younger than the others.

"Carnivals are meant for fun and excitement!" said the leader. "Ruining that for fear and panic is unforgivable! In the name of the moon! We shall punish you!"

"I do so love a challenge!" Chimareacon snickered.

"Then why don't we make it a but more chellenging?" asked a male voice from the opposite side of the area.

Everyone gazed to who had spoke an dwere greeted by the visage of Tuxedo Kamen, "Places such as these are made for fond memories and happy times. For destroying that I will serve your judgement."

'Well they are punctual if nothing else,' Lunar thought to himself. 'Speeches are kinda dorky though.'

Realizing that Chimeracon was distracted, Lunar reached to his belt and pulled out a card before sliding it into his sword.

"_Add Vent,_" a voice rang out. A loud neigh the erupted just before Stallionstar came crashing through the walls and trotting up next to his master.

"So," Lunar smirked. "Think you can take us all?"

Chimera laughed as he pluched the card from Naru's body and looked at it. His grin turned to a frown when he saw the picture on it. It depicted a pink unicorn with a green mane and horn. Vines were wrapped around it's body as it reared back in a dramatc pose.

"Unicolius," Chimeracon snorted. "Ah well, one more to add to the ranks. Now to deal with the rest of you."

"Naru-chan!" Umino cried as he ran this girlfriend's body. "What did you do to her!?"

"Nothing you'll have to care about anytime soon," Chimeracon laughed as he spread his arms out. His left arm turned into a snake head while his right turned into a goat's head. "CHIMERA"S BLAZE!!"

Chimeracon started spinning on the spot just as streams of fire began spewing from his three mouths. The flames went everywhere and it turns out that the materils used to make the arena were very flamable. Soon the entre tent was in a blaze.

"Ahh!" cried Sailor Venus. "We have to get out of here!"

"But what about Umino and Naru?!" Sailor Moon asked in fear for her friends.

"Looks like Lunar has that covered!" Jupiter smiled as she pointed to the white knight.

Indeed he did have it covered. Lunar and Stallionstar were alrady at the coupe's side. Naru was propped up on Stallionstar's back while Lunar and Umino were already making ther way to the exit alongside the whte horse.Chimeracon was also tearing a hole in the wall and was trying to make a getaway. The Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen were already on his tails as they got out of the tent. However, when they did get out, they saw the oddest thing. There was a huge armoured pig staring down Chimeracon with a boy on it's back who was wearing travel weary clothes, a backpack, a bandanna on his head and was wolding an umbrella. He also seemed to have cofee in his hair.

"What do you want boy?" Chimeracon growled.

"I heard what you did," the boy growled. "So I must do my duty as a martial artist. MONSTER! PREPARE TO DIE!"

From where he was unloading Naru off Stallionstar and into Umino's waiting arms, Lunar could hear the battlecry. When he did hear it, he just groaned inwardly, 'P-chan shows up at the wrong moment as usual. I'd better go save him before that monster burns him alive.'

Lunar ran over to the battle, leaving Stallionstar to protect Umino and Naru. He only managed to catch a glimpse of what was happening until a large gray pig and Ryoga were sent flyng at him. The act itself caught him by surprise and all ythree of them were slammed into a number of stands. Lunar groaned as his case fell out of his belt and his armor vanished. Luckily, the pig and rubble was covering him from view. Ryoga groaned as he opened his eyes and saw his rival.

"Ranma?" he asked confusedly. "What are you doing in Okinawa?"

"We're in Juuban you dip," Ranma scowled. "What made you think that yoou could fight that thing bare-handed! They're on par with Herb and last I checked you got your but kicked by his cronies!"

"Shut up Ranma!" Ryoga barked. "Where were you when I was protecting innocent girls in short skirts!"

"I was entering the fight when you and bacon breath here hit me like a runaway train!"

"Rannnnmmaaaaaaa," Ryoga growled angrily.

"Enough!" a third voice shouted.

Both boys looked over and saw Draco slithering though the gapsin the rubble. Draco was thanking his lucky stars that both boys were still alive and well. He had been hiding...er, collecting intelligence outside when he saw Lunar get flattened by the new boy and the pig. He looked them both over and when he looked at Ryoga his smile grew larger, "Ah, we have found our second knight. Perfect timing!"

"Huh?" the two boys grunted before Ranma looked over to Ryoga. Sure enough, there was a dark purple symbol of Saturn glowing over Ryoga's heart.

"You have got to be kidding," Ranma sighed as he looked back to Draco, who was already summoning the cards for him.

The minute dragon tossed the purple card case to Ryoga, who caught it.

"I am pleased to inform you that you are the second of a royal order of knights dedicated to protecting the unverse from evil threats," Draco explained. "All we really have to do now is get you a contract and you can start fighting our enemy just like Ranma here."

"Huh?" Ryoga gaped. "Could you run that by me again?"

"He means that we get to have super powers and fight monsters like the Sailor Senshi do," Ranma sighed. "The only catch is that we need a contract monster and we can't tell anyone."

"Oh," Ryoga nodded. "Cool. So where do I get one of these contracts?"

"Well, since we're trapped underneath one of the contract mosnters," Draco explained. "You might as well contract with mister big pig over here. He looks like a tough old side of ham. To make the contract you only have to hold a blank card up to the beast in question."

Ryoga sighed, looking to the cards in his hands. Reaching to the side, he pulled out a blank card and held it out to the hid of the pig that was imprisoning them. The light burst forth from the card but this time it was a deep purple. The pig seemed to get more energy before it managed to get back up again. The armor turned to a deep purple that had silver lining. It's eyes shone like emeralds. When the change was finished, the light faded. Ryoga looked to the card and saw that it now had an image of the boar with the name 'Boarbomber.'

"Hey, that's pretty cool," Ryoga nodded before sliding the card back into the case. The case then took and image of a boar in front of the symbol of Saturn behind it.

"Great," Ranma noddded as he grabbed his white card case. "Now we can transform to get rid of this thing. Lunar Knight Power!"

Ryoga's eyes wdened at seeing the metal belt appear on Ranma's waist. Ranma just continued with transforming. "Henshin!" He put the white case into the belt. Ryoga covered his eyes and when it died down, he was looking at the Royal Knight Lunar. Ryoga, not one to be outdone, stood up and prepared himself.

"Kronos Knight Power!" Ryoga growled. "Henshin!"

Ryoga was engulfed in purple light before it died down to reveal his armor. His chest armor was a deep purple with silver edges. It looked bulky and the shoulders were rounded with small spikes coming down the shoulders. His arms had bulky armor gauntlets on them and his boots were purple with silver treads. They looked like cloven hooves. The helmet was purpled with a silver mouthguard that was divided down the middle. There was a black line of a visor that covered his eyes. Two spikes that were similar to tusks jutted from the sides of where his jaw would be. There was also a scythe that hung at his waist that was small enough to fit in one hand. Where the blade met handle was a boars head.

"Heh," Kronos snickered. "Not bad."

"Now if you two would put your rivalry aside," Draco spoke. "GET THAT CARD BACK FROM CHIMERACON!!"

"Okay, okay," Lunar sighed. "No need to yell."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Senshi seemed to be doing fairly well against Chimeracon. The star beast wasn't able to run because he was outnumbered and everytime he did try, the Senshi would fire an attack that would cut off his escape. So now, Chimeracon was simple content on destroying the Senshi where they stood. Once the battle went that way, the Senshi were learning why one shouldn't fight a chimera when it is angry.

"TRIPLE BLAZE!" Chimeracon roared as he unleashed three steams of fire at the Senshi.

"_Saturn Silence Wall!_" Saturn cried as she brought up her defence. The flames crashed on it. The heat itself was draining, but keeping the shield up was just as draning. Saturn knew that her friends could get out of the way, but there wasn't any kind of way she could get out of the way without getting charbroiled.

"_Stike Vent._" two voices spoke.

A noud neigh and what seemed to be an enraged 'bwee' or something. The ground seemed to rumble for a moment utill a loud crash and Chimeracon's cry of pain could be heard. The streams of fire suddenly ended and the Senshi could see just what the heck had happened. Chimeracon was stuggling to his feet just as Stallionstar and a large purple boar could be seen. Beside each of them was a knight. One was Lunar, but the other was a new guy. The card that Chimeracon had been holding was also fluttering to the ground before it was caught by Lunar.

"I'll take this back to the girl," Lunar spoke to the other knight. "Think you can cover this?"

"Watch me," the new knight snorted. "Boarbomber and I can take this down easily."

Lunar nodded before he began running towards where Naru and Umino were. The new knight kracked his neck before drawing his scythe. He gripped the boar's head on the back of the weapon and the mouth opened to reveal a slot where a card could slip in. Drawing a card from his belt, he slipped it into the slot before shutting the comaprtment.

"_Sword Vent_." was heard before things happened.

The weapon fell from the sky and the knight caught it with one hand as he put his scythe back on his waist. The weapon he caught was actuall a handle with two blades that were put on both ends.Both blades were actually shaped like the boar's tusks.

"Just who are you?" Chimeracon growled angrily.

"Knight of Saturn, Kronos," the new knight introduced.

Chimeracon bellowed in rage before he dashed towards Kronos with fury. The knight of Saturn took a ready stance and managed to dodge a claw swipe before releasing a large slash down Chimeracon's chest. The star beast bellowed in agaony before Kronos kicked him back.

"Are you girls just going to sit there?" Kronos asked the Senshi.

The girls and Tuxedo Kamen snapped out of their amazed stares before circlng arounf the area, ready to attack. Sailor Mars decided to kick things off.

"_Mars Fireball Ignite!_"

_"Aqua Shine Illusion!_"

"_Jupiter Supreme Thunder Crash!_"

"_Venus Crescent Beam Smash!_

"_Saturn Silence Glaive Surplrise!_"

"_Pink Sugar Heart Attack!_"

Chimeracon was assaulted at all sides by several magical attacks. He bellowed in agony as he was with practically everything but the kitchen sink. He was suffering from burns, blunt attacks, and frostbite. Kronos nodded as he watched. There was only one last thing to finish off this monster's punishment. Reaching to his weapon, he opened it one-handed before grabbing a card that had the boar symbol on it. He slipped it into the handle before shutting it.

"_Final Vent._" was spoken before it took effect.

Boarbomber took a run towards Chimeracon with Kronos just beyond him. Chimeracon was too wounded move. Boarbomber smashed his tusks into Chimeracon, knocking him over onto the ground. Before he could get back up, Boarbomber pinned him to the ground with his tusks before draggng across the ground towards Kronos.The knght in question raised his blades and was readied his strike. The Senshi looked on in confusion at what was happening. Boarbomber picked up his speed as Kronos prepared the attack.

"_Tusk Strike!_" Kronos called as Boarbomber let him go.

Chimeracon was thrown up and Kronos unleashed a vertical slash. It cut through Chimeracon before he exploded in a red inferno. The flames from the explosion faded before it revealed the glowing orb of energy. Reaching to his belt, Kronos took another card before sliding it into his scyther.

"_Seal Vent._" was echoed before Boarbomber began glowing. The orb was drawn to Boarbomber and he absorbed it.

"Well, you and Lunar made it all sound harder than that," Kronos commented. "Fighting a youma is easy!"

"It is when you have a huge pig helping you!" Sailor Moon frowned.

"I suppose it is," Kronos shrugged. "I might as well get going. Nice meeting all of you."

With that, Kronos set out for parts unknown. He walked around a corner of the burnt tent and vanished. He was nowhere to be seen when the Senshi tried to catch upwith him. Even Boarbomber had vanshed. Lunar was already with Umino and Naru with the Unicolius card. He was getting another flash of intuition like when he started using the cards. Placing the card on her chest, both he and Umino were amazed the see the picture and everythng connected to it vanish. It was just a blank card again. Naru groaned slightly but she awoke from her sleep.

"Umino?" she asked as she wiped her eyes. "What happened."

Umino just started gong into a whole exaggerated tale of how he helped the Saior Senshi and Lunar fight off the monster so they coould get back what he stole. Lunar just shruggd and collected Draco before beginning his roofhopping journey home.

"Well that was a normal day to me," Lunar smirked as he changed back to Ranma. "Got in a huge fight, dealt massive property damage, and had a rival show up outta nowhere."

"Hey," Draco commented. "Where did Ryoga go anyway?"

"Probably got lost again knowing him," Ranma sighed.

**Caro, Egypt**

"WHERE THE HELL AM I?" Kronos bellowed from where he stood in the Valley of the Kings. "I thought Nerima was right next the Juuban! I didn't even know there were any deserts in Japan!"

From where he kept himself hidden from the world, Boarbomber sweatdropped.

To be Continued.

A/N: Well, chapter three is finished and a new knight makes the scene. I'm kind of debating if I should pair up Ranma with any of the Senshi. I just don't know which one. Votes might be nice. Well, that's two knights now and a third ought to be coming around the bend anytime now. Oh, and Kamen Moon Rider will be updated soon for thse who read it. Just be patient.


	4. The Ratrace

I do not own Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, or Kamen Rider Ryuki. Those belong to their respective creators and not me. I wish I did own them but sadly, I don't. Anyhow, let's get on with the fic and I hope you all enjoy it.

-Ten-Faced Paladin

Knights of the Silver Millenium

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 4: The Ratrace

Ranma sighed as he lay back on the roof of the Tendo dojo. He had long since gotten back for the night and everything went back into routine. Akane was in a huff over something again while Nabiki had pressed him for info about the knights. Ranma shuddered at the thought of her finding out who the knights were. If she did, him and Ryoga would be blackmailed out of every yen they had. Kasumi greeted him with a smile and welcomed him home. At least that part was pleasant. Of course, the fathers immediately harped on him for insulting his fiancee and went crying about how dishonorable he was. Not needing the stress after dealning with the corrupted star beast, Ranma had went to the only retreat he knew. The roof.

"They shouldn't preach what they don't practice," Draco lamented as he lay coiled on Ranma's chest. "From what Kasumi told me about your life I really don't see how you can marry Akane or any of the others without destroying your own honor and the honor of the others."

"That's why I don't try to play favorites," Ranma sighed. "I used to like Akane but nowadays, she just won't trust me or even let me say my side of the story. She just assumes she's right and pounds me. I'm getting really sick of it."

"It's a wonder you haven't snapped yet in my opinion," Draco remarked. "Technically speaking, Genma had invalidated all the arrangements when he engaged you to all those women. At least, that's how I think it works. I could be wrong."

"That still leaves Shampoo and Kodachi," Ranma reminded the tiny dragon. "Besides, Tendo doesn't seem to care so long as I marry Akane. Way I see it is that they want me to do all the work while they live on easy street for the rest of their lives."

"Pathetic fools," Draco growled, causing a bit of smoke to leave his nostrils. "Back during the Silver Millenum, arranged marriages had to be approved by the queen. Genma would never have gotten away with these stunts while Queen Serenity was around."

"Well she isn't around," Ranma frowned. "The Silver Millenium is gone and it's not coming back. Might as well look to the future. Speaking of which," Ranma reached to his pocket and pulled out the card that Chimeracon had used to steal something from the girl at the circus. "Just what the heck is this thing for? Why did it hurt that girl?"

"Oh," Draco blinked. "That's a contract card like the one you used to tame Stallionstar. With it, you can tame a second star beast. Be careful though, the limit is three. Any more and they would begin to infuence your thoughts."

"Is that bad?" Ranma asked.

"Basically you would act more animalistic whenever you would be in your armor," Draco explaned. "I would call that bad."

"No kidding," Ranma shivered as he slipped the card back into his pocket. "I'll just have to save it then. But why did that beast use it on that girl?"

"He was after her personal guardian," Draco replied.

"Huh?" Ranma grunted.

"While it is true that a that the star beasts are physical manifestations of the stars, only a small portion of them actually take a body." Draco explained. "The rest of them are all up there. Watching over their chosen human. When a star goes out, that means a star beast has taken on a physical form or their human has died. When a new star lights up it either means a star beast has returned home or has chosen a new charge. Some call it a rebirth."

"So a star beast is watching over me?" Ranma wondered.

"Most likely," Draco nodded. "However, what Chimeracon did was use that girl as a syphon to pull her star beast through her soul and into the card. The process is no doubt painful and it unfortunately takes the soul of the person with it."

"That chimera guy seemed a little disappointed when he saw the creature on the card though," Ranma pointed out.

"Did he?" wondered Draco. "Then he must have been after a certain beast. Who knows how many people our enemies would have to search if they want to find just one star beast."

Ranma looked at the night sky and pondered this revealation. He used to look at the stars for some peace. Now he knew that when he was looking up, several eyes were looking back down on him. He wasn't sure if he really did have a star beast looking down him, considering his life it was a safe bet to say his might have been stolen by the bad guys. It might explain how so many bad things kept happening to him. Now wasn't the time to look for someone to blame though. He had bad guys to fight and knights to find.

"Ranma!" Genma's voice bellowed. "Where are you boy?!"

Ranma sighed as he sat up and leaped to the ground. He stepped up to the sliding door and opened it. What he wasn't expecting was the sudden splash which changed him into Ranma-chan.

"Hey!" she coughed, getting the water out of her throat. "What did ya do that for?!"

Draco was idly wondering how roasted panda would taste. That was, until they saw that Genma was sitting next to a man that Ranma recognised. He should, since he had ordered ramen from the guy before the Nekohaten had opened up. He was also the guy that hired her to run in the martial arts take-out race. Ranma and his dad had gotten free ramen for a year thanks to that. It was the only way Ranma survived without starving whenever Akane had decided to make him lunch. Though sadly that tap had dried up long ago.

"So you plan on entering Ranma in the race again?" Genma asked the ramen vendor.

"Yep," the vendor replied. "Won me a lot of business from that race. I figured that Ranma could go for it again since I'm offering another year of free ramen."

"Fine," Ranma shrugged before turning to her father. "Just remember that half that ramne is mine old man!"

Genma humphed and ignored his daughter. The ramen vondor easily agreed to Ranma's request and everything was set. While they were setting up the deal however, others were preparing for the race as well.

----------------------------------------------

"AGAIN!?" Akane cried when her father told her the news. "You sold me to compete for another five orders of eel?"

"Of course not!" Soun denied. "It was ten this time for extra incentive to win! How could I say no?"

"What about Ranma?"Akane sighed. "He turns into a girl so he should have to compete."

"Sadly that ramen guy from the last race already got Ranma to agree to the race," Soun sobbed. "Free ramen for a year and I couldn't even taste it!"

Akane huffed indignantly. She recalled the events from the last martial arts take-out race. She hadn't done too badly in her own opinion. She placed third after Shampoo but Ranma had won. She was positive she could have won if Shampoo hadn't played on Ranma's fear of cats and forced her to eat the eel she had been carrying. She could only hope that this year they didn't have to race to Kuno's house to deliver the food. Last time was crazy enough even by Nerima standards.

------------------------------------------------

Cologne looked at the flyer advertising the race. She cackled in delight for the opportunity. She knew that if there was anything that had anything to do with martial arts, her son-in-law would be there to compete. She looked over to Shampoo, who was serving some customers. Mousse was in the kitchen, preparing some more orders. The boy may have been incompetent in a few areas, but cooking was not one of them so long as he wore his glasses. Looking back to the poster, she called Shampoo over to her and showed it to her.

"Aiyaa!" Shampoo gasped. "New take-out race?"

"Yes Shampoo," Cologne nodded. "I was thinking that Son-in-law is surely going to compete."

"Airen always in sport like this," Shampoo smiled brightly. "If he race then Shampoo want to race!"

"I was thinking the same same thing granddauther," Cologne smiled. "This might be a new chance to snare Son-in-law"

While the two women conspired in their newest way to try and get Ranma's favor, someone had been listening in. Mousse was hearing the entire conversation as he and Shampoo's father worked on the orders. Mousse silently contemplated this new information.

'If Shampoo can defeat Ranma, then perhaps Shampoo won't see him in the light she usually does," Mousse thought to himself. 'Shampoo's opinion of him will slowly decrease and so will his confidence! Then I will swoop in and break him and Shampoo will be mine! Saotome! You will lose the race!'

----------------------------------------------------

All the way in Juuban, Hotaru Tomoe was looking at a flyer that she had found attatched to a lamp post that she had walked past in Nerima. She and Michiru had been out shopping when Hotaru had spotted it. Hotaru was actually keeping an eye out for Ranma. She had been hoping to see him again but the poster that she had found would allow her to see him soon enough. She was also showing her friends and family what she had found while visiting the temple. The only ones who weren't there were Setsuna, Mamoru, and the cats. Setsuna was conferring with the cats on thsi new threat while Mamoru had classes.

"Martial arts take-out race?" asked Haruka in a disbelieving tone. "You have got to be kidding me."

"It's true!" Hotaru insisted. "Ranma told me that he ran in the race last year. He won too!"

"How could he?"asked Amy. "This flyer says that it's only for girls."

"Oh," Hotaru blinked. "I guess you don't know about Ranma-niisan's curse."

"Curse?" asked Raye, voicing concern for her friend. "Ranma is under a curse?"

"What does the curse do to him?" asked Usagi. "Maybe we can help him?"

"Well," Hotaru frowned sadly. "He doesn't like talking about it but since you're all his friends... just don't let him know that you know, okay?"

"We promise," Minako said quickly. "Just tell us what this curse is doing to him."

"Well," Hotaru began. "He wouldn't have told me unless it activated right in front of me. He told me that before he came back to Japan about a year ago, he was training out in China. There, he and his father found this place called Jusenkyo."

"Oh no," Rei gasped. "I've heard about that place. I've read about it in my studies. That place is completely covered in magic."

"What's this place look like?" asked Makoto.

"Well," Rei eplained. "It's a pretty big area from what I've read. There's about a hundred springs of various size. Each of them also have at least one bamboo pole sticking out of it. It's supposed to be for balance training or something. What makes the place so dangerous is that each pool has it's own unique curse. If you fall in one of them then you change into whatever had drowned in there last. That's all I really know."

"But Ranma looked fine to me," Usagi frowned. "Are you sure that he fell in one?"

"The curse is reversable from what he tells me," Hotaru spoke up again. "Cold water activates it while hot water changes him back. He and his father both picked up one when they went there. His father changes into a panda."

"Suits him just fine," Rei frowned. "The man was fat and lazy last time I saw him. I doubt that has changed."

"What curse did Ranma pick up Hotaru?" asked Michiru.

"Um...," Hotaru frowned. "You're going to laugh if I tell you."

"No we won't," Haruka reassured. "How bad could his curse be?"

"He fell in the Nyannichaun," Hotaru almost whispered. "He turns into a girl when he gets splashed with cold water."

Everything had gone silent around the gathered Senshi. Their image of Ranma had been completely blown away as they imagined what Ranma would look like as a girl. A number of them involved the female Ranma acting quite girly. Just imagining that caused most of the girl's thought processers to crash for the moment. Only one of them remained active for the next action.

"Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaa!" Haruka broke out laughing. "Oh Kami-sama! Ranma as a girl? Oh I can't believe it. The manliest of the manly, a girl! Bwa ha ha ha ha!"

"You said you wouldn't laugh," Hotaru pouted sadly.

"I'm sorry," Haruka snorted as she caught her breath. "It's just that I would never imagine that happening to him. Oh, my sides. I can see this sort of thing happening to him though. He's always getting into trouble. Even when I went to school with him."

"You went to school with him?" asked Chibi-Usa. "What was he like?"

"Yeah Haruka," Minako nodded. "We told you how we met Ranma. I think it's about time for you to spill."

"Okay okay," Haruka sighed, but still grinning from the earlier laugh. "Well, I can safely tell you that he and I were friends I suppose."

-----------**Haruka's Story**-------------------------

Haruka was walking down the halls of her junior high school. She was due to graduate soon which was fine for her. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hide her gender. In most places in the world, gender wouldn't be much of an issue, but when you were the only girl in an all boys school, your gender suddenly began to be an issue. Especially when most of the boys there were horn dogs who drooled over any woman that had a chest and shapely figure. There wasn't much she was going to miss.

CRASH! BOOM! WHAM!

Well, there would be a few things she woud miss. She walked into the cafeteria and watched as two junior classmen were brawling over the last piece of melon bread for the day. Ranma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki. When Ranma had first arrived, Haruka had assumed that he was another horn dog like the others boys but she was quickly proven wrong. When the girls from her sister school arrived to hang out in front of the fence, he didn't seem to notice despite their most determined efforts. Another plus she held for him was his entusiasm in martial arts. She didn't like how he didn't wan't to hurt girls, but that was his choice. She couldn't quite chastise him for it for fear of blowing her secret, but he was an alright guy. She had sparred with him a few times and discovered just how far above her he was. Now that made two people she wanted to beat. Ranma and Ryoga.

She watched with interest as Ranma caught the melon bread in mid-air just as Ryoga jumped for it and used Ryoga's head as a springboard. He then landed on the ground with light tap next to Haruka. Ryoga just ended up body slamming a group of boys who were caught in the middle of the food brawl.

"Looks like you win again," Haruka smirked as Ranma began eating the melon bread before they both took a seat at a table.

"What can I say Ruka-chan?" Ranma smirked. "I am the best after all."

"Ryoga's going to be out for you blood you know," Haruka remined him. "And most people would call me 'sempai.'"

"Well I'm not most people," Ranma shrugged. "If Ryoga wants to fight then I'm game. The only people I've sparred with are you and pops. I could use a new challenge."

"Oh, so I'm not challenging?" Haruka challenged with her eyebrows raised.

"You're good, I'll admit that," Ranma reassured. "It's just that I'm way better. Ryoga comes pretty darn close though."

"Hmm," Haruka smirked again. "Just watch your back. I will get good enough to match you."

"I'll be waiting Ruka-chan," Ranma smirked.

Haruka had to be honest with herself, if there was any man that even had a remote chance of attracting her, it was definitely Ranma. Haruka knew her preferances and did not find Ranma sexually appealing, romantically had a slightly better chance, but not much. She was drawn to him because of his friendly attitude. She didn't have to play tough or pretend to be anything. She just had to be Haruka Tenoh. It was a little refreshing.

Unfortunately, Ranma was pulled out of the school by his father before he vanished. Ryoga had vanished as well, but Haruka reasoned that he had gotten lost again since Ranma wasn't around to take him home anymore. She felt a little saddned by not being able to see him anymore, but she had a feeling that she would see him again someday.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"I was right too," Haruka smiled. "If what Hotaru said about this curse he has is true then I think I will be seeing him..or her, again pretty soon."

"But how did you manage to go to an all boys school?" asked Minako.

"I lied on my entrance sheets and wore boys clothes," Haruka replied. "I wasn't that well developed then so hiding my attributes was easy. The showers were all in stalls so I only had to hide my parts with towels. The only thing I needed a doctors note for was swimming. No one was ever the wiser."

"Only you," Michiru smiled. "Only you would go through that much trouble."

Haruka just shrugged with a smile, "So, is anyone else going to go to this little race?"

"I have my studies to think of," Ami sighed. "So I can't"

"I have a date with Mamo-chan," Usagi sighed. "No way I'm putting that off."

"I'd go if I didn't have my priestess duties," Rei frowned sadly.

"I can't go because my family is going out to dinner," Minako pouted. "I wanted to see Ranma as a girl too!"

"I'm doing nothing," Makoto smiled brightly. "I'll go."

"Alright," Haruka nodded. "This flyer says that the contest starts at 2:00 so I think we should head out at noon to try and get some good seats."

"I'll be ready!" Makoto squealed, anticipating seeing her sempai again. She had given a little thought at him being a girl and that was a little appealing when she thought about it. He would understand some of the things that a girl had to go through. Plus they could hang out together and have slumber parties and such if they could convince him to come. The thought of that brought a quiet giggle to her lips.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within their prison, the Shishin watched the world above in their crystal. Seiryuu was not plesed to hear that the target he had chosen did not wield his prize. He was even more displeased to learn that the star beast that they did capture was not converted and instead returned to the person they stole it from. The enitre Shishin was displeased to learn that Kronos had appeared on the scene. He would make their task of finding their prize that much harder.

"So," Suzaku sighed. "Any ideas gentlemen?"

"With Kronos entering the game then we will have to be more alert in our attacks," Seiryuu commented.

"I still say we should mount an offensive and destroy them while their forces are still small!" Genbu shouted angrily.

"And you will be denied yet again," Byakko sighed as he stood up. He reached to the side of his chair and pulled out a large gauntlet styled after tiger claws. After attatching it to his right hand, he began walking over to the crystal in the centre. "For now, let us choose a new target."

He tapped the crystal with his gauntlet and white energy raced through it. The crystal lit up the room as a new image appeared on it. This time it showed the image of a certain Chinese amazon training hard for some kind of event. Byakko remained still for a moment before letting the image fade and walked back to his throne.

"The new target is Xian Pu of the Chinese Amazons," he explained. "She is the best warrior in her village save for the elders. Her strength and beauty hint at the possibilty of one of the Saint Beasts being attatched to her soul."

"If not one of them then perhaps a strong star beast anyway," Seiryuu added. "Very well."

"Not a bad choice Byakko," Suzaku admitted. "Always thinking."

"Humph!" Genbu snorted angrily.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon, the day had come of the martial arts take-out race. All the contestants were getting ready for the main event. Ranma was in girl form and was waiting while balancing the box of ramen on her head and whistling to pass the time. Akane was chatting to some of her friends while Shampoo immediately saw Ranma and zeroed in on her.

"Aiyaa!" she squealed in excitement. "You come Ranma! Shampoo know you would!"

"Can't turn down a year of free ramen now can I?" Ranma replied coldly, still a sore at her for ruining the wedding.

Shampoo flinched at the coldness in Ranma's voice, but tried to be friendly to her. She really didn't know why Ranma was so upset with her. Surely it couldn't be because he wanted the wedding to happen? Shampoo thought she was a much better choice for him. She was a better cook and so much more better looking. She just couldn't understand why Ranma didn't like her. Wasn't she a powerful warrior? Hadn't she proven her superiority over Akane so many times? Why wasn't Ranma leaping into her arms and heading back to China?

While the racers were getting ready, a group of young women from Juuban were watching everything, trying to figure out where Ranma was.

"So Hotaru," Makoto began. "Just which one of these girls are Ranma anyway?"

"Ummm," Hotaru spoke as she peered at the racers before seeing a familiar head of red hair. "There she is. The girl with the red hair in a pigtail. She's next to the girl with purple hair and buns on her head like Usagi. That's Ranma-niisan..er, neesan"

The other three girls looked to where Hotaru was pointing and their jaws almost dropped. Haruka was the first to speak, "Wow. Ranma turns into that busty little thing?"

"Haruka," Michiru warned. "What have I told about looking at other girls like that?"

"But Ranma's a guy," Haruka protested.

"But she's a girl right now," Michiru retorted.

"I think she has a bigger bust than me," Makoto pouted before she saw the purple haired girl trying to flirt with Ranma. "Who is that hussy anyway?"

"Oh," Hotaru spoke up again, her face turning to a small frown. "That's Shampoo. She's a Chinese amazon Ranma-niisan beat in a fight while he was in China. By her own laws, she's Ranma-niisan's wife since he beat her in a fight. He doesn't like her and keeps telling her that he isn't her husband. She's been trying to get him for the past year."

"How do you know that Hotaru?" asked Michiru.

"He told me," Hotaru replied. "It's mostly his papa's fault though. If he hadn't pigged out on the victory feast that the amazons were saving for Shampoo's victory in a competition, Ranma wouldn't have fought her."

"Why am I not surrised?" wondered Haruka. "Anything else we should know that his father did?"

"Well," Hotaru pondered. "He has three other girls after him too. There's Akane Tendo who doesn't trust him and keeps hitting him because she tinks he's a pervert. There's Ukyo, an okonomiyaki chef who's also engaged to him but his papa took the dowry and ran, leaving her. I think there's Kodachi Kuno too. Ranma doesn't talk about her much but he did say she's crazy."

The three older Senshi were just shocked at hearing this. How could one man do so much damage in to one person? How could Ranma have so many bad things happen to him? Engaged to two different girl's by his father? What the hell was the man thinking? Forced to marry someone because he beat her in a fight? Being chased by a lunatic? How did all that happen?

"Hotaru, if you see Ranma's father, I want you to stay far away from him," Michiru frowned angrily.

"Okay!" Hotaru smiled. She didn't need to be told twice.

"If there ever was an enemy of love and justice, it's him!" Makoto growled, angry that anyone would do acts of stupidity like that to her sempai.

Below them on the street, The announcer had already called everyone up to the starting line. Ranma felt pretty confident that she would win while Akane kept throwing her dark looks since she was standing right next to Shampoo. Ranma could feel Akane's death gaze aimed right at her but she was starting to care less and less that it was hitting her. If Akane couldn't trust him then let her get mad. She was even considering listening to Draco's advice and start avoiding getting hit.

'Where is the little snake anyway?' Ranma wondered to herself.

"Contestants get ready!" The announcer called, snapping her out of her thoughts "We have selected your destination!"

The announcer pointed to a large map that had been set up. It showed a red sticker over a house. Ranma immediately recognised it.

"Uh-oh," she thought to herself. "That's Hiroshi's house. Hope his insurance is up."

"He friend of Airen's?" asked Shampoo.

"Yeah," Ranma nodded. "Just don't go tearing down his walls."

"Okee-dokey!" Shampoo nodded.

"Alright ladies," the announcer spoke as he raised a bullhorn into the air. "On your marks, get set, go!"

The bullhorn sounded and the racers were off. Shampoo and Ranma were in the lead. Akane was a close third one her skateboard. Most of the other girls were still trying to catch up or had already split off into routes that they thought were best. Ranma leaped onto a taller building and was getting the lay of the land when Shampoo landed behind her.

"Airen!" Shampoo smiled. "If Shampoo win we go out on date yes?"

"No," Ranma frowned. "Now leave me alone so I can see where I need to go."

Shampoo was about to protest by glomping him again when someone else caught their attention.

"Saotome!" an angry voice roared from above.

The two women looked up and saw Mousse coming down from the sky in his falcon pose with metal talons coming from his shoes. Ranma immediately leaped to the side with her precious cargo. Shampoo frowned as she watched the myopic part-time duck try to clobber Ranma.

"Oooh!" she growled. "What stupid Mousse doing?"

"I am ensurig you victory my love!" Mousse declared to a pole sticking out of the ground before gettign whacked over the head by Shampoo. He quickly put on his glasses before turning to her.

"Shampoo need no help from duck boy!" Shampoo frowned. "Shampoo beat Airen herself!"

While the two were arguing, Ranma was already inching towards the edge of the building. She really didn't need Mousse attacking her right now and Shampoo was not helping things. When she was about to leap for it, she was suddenly found out.

"Airen! Wait for Shampoo!"

"Don't you dare run away Saotome!"

That was all Ranma needed to start going fast again. She had already pegged her route and was running off to get there first. Shampoo was racing after him to try and win so she could get a date with Ranma, despite Ranma saying no to her earlier challenge. Mousse was trying with all his might to stop Ranma so that Shampoo could win. Too bad that he still couldn't see that well and kept missing with his hidden weapons.

While the fighting had begun to tkae place though, none of the participants had noticed a helicopted above them with a film crew watching the entire spectacle. It was something new added by the people sponsering the race. After the last race where the entire audience had to relocate to the target house, the people in charge decided to send a helicopter up with a camera to record the action. It was much easier on the audience that way.

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"Oooh!" the announcer called. "It looks like the Chinese boy is trying to stop last year's winner Ranma from finishing the race. Last year's second place finisher is also getting in on the mix. Will Ranma be able to pull out a win like always?"

In the stands, the four Senshi were watching a large television screen in rapt attention. Who knew that take-out could be so violent? It would be a miracle if either of the racers could get their food to the house without destroying it. With the Chinese boy throwing a mind-boggling amount of chained weapons out of his oversized sleeves and all the leaping over rooftops the girls were wondering if this was computer graphics.

"Shouldn't the officials be doing something about this?" asked Michiru.

"I don't think they could if they wanted to," Hotaru replied. "Ranma-niichan said that he gets attacked like this almost everyday. Most of the guys he fights are pretty high level so the police or anyone really can't do anything about it."

"WHAT?!" Makoto and Haruka gasped. Martial artists so powerful that the police couldn't stop them?

"Ranma-niichan is mostly the only one who does something about them," Hotaru explained. "They can get pretty dangerous but he manages to keep them small. The only other ones who could do anything about it don't because the fights don't usually involve them so they don't do anything."

"That's horrible!" Makoto gasped. "No one helps him?"

"These punks call themselves martial artists?" Haruka frowned. "Seems to me that Ranma is the only honorable one of the bunch of them."

The other three Senshi agreed with nods.

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Ranma had just avoided another chain with a metal hand on the end. She then landed on the top of another buidling and looked at the two Chinese teens who were plauging him.

"Would you just give it a rest Mousse?!" Ranma frowned. "I'm in the middle of something here!"

"Not until I defeat you and see Shampoo win!" Mousse shouted and leaped to attack Ranma, but instead hit an old weathervane.

"Stupid Mousse," Shampoo sighed. "Shampoo no need you to win!"

Mousse of course, being a delusional idiot yet again, didn't hear her. He just leaped to attack Ranma yet again. He launched another volley of weapon mounted chains which Ranma expertly dodged. As Ranma touched ground, there was a loud rumbling noise which gave paise to everyone.

"What that?" asked Shampoo.

Ranma didn't know but she knew that it wasn't good. Her danger senses were going into five alarm mode. Whatever was coming was really bad news. There was also something ticking off at the back of her mind. It was telling her that this wasn't going to be the normal kind of trouble. The rumbling grew louder before a loud crash followed it. Shampoo's scream of surprise immediately came afterwards. Both Ranma and Mousse turned to see a gray armored mass pull Shampoo into the room below them through the hole it had created.

"Shampoo!" Mousse cried before he dove in after her.

Ranma didn't even blink before she leaped in right after Mousse.

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"What the heck was that?" the announcer gasped. "It looked like Miss Shampoo was pulled into the building by some kind of monster!"

The Senshi were already moving into action as they scrambled away from the crowds and into a more private spot to transform. They found that spot in an alley that was shaded and with people more focused on the big screen, they were able to get the privacy they needed.

_Jupiter Star Power..._

_Uranus Planet Power..._

_Neptune Planet Power..._

_Saturn Planet Power..._

_MAKE-UP!!_

In a flash of light, Sailors Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune appeared before they leaped to the nearest rooftop and began roofhopping towards where the disturbance was happening.

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Ranma and Mousse landed on the hard floor of the old building in the middle of a black electric sotrm of some kind. In the centre was the large armored being with his hand pressed against Shampoo with the lightning generating from the contact.

"Unhand her!" Mousse growled dangerously.

"Glady," came a deep rumble of a voice before the armored figure let Shampoo fall to the ground. She was out cold and the figure was holding up a card. Both martial artists caught a glimps of an armoured panther on the card face. The figure just shrugged before turning towards the two martial artists.

"Panthress," he sighed. "A strong one, no doubt, but not the one my masters were hoping for."

The figure stepped into the light for both martial artists to see. He was MASSIVE! He stood on two trunk-like feet which helped him stand to about seven feet tall. His head was actually scraping off the celing. is body was bulky and had thick armor on. His face was what was most unusual. It was large and fashioned after an elephant. Flappy metal ears branched from the head while a trunk hung down to his torso. Sharp tusks jutted from his metal mouth. Usually, one would assume that it was a man wearing armor, but Ranma instantly knew different.

"Star beast," she muttered.

"What did you say?" asked Mousse.

"Correct woman," the star beast nodded. "I am called Elepounder. I am the elephant star beast."

Mousse was now somewhat confused at what was going on, and Ranma was preapring for a fight. They were interrupted when Ranma's box of food started shaking before it popped open and Draco slithered out.

"Did someone mention a star beast?" he asked as he slurped a noodle from inside the box.

"Draco, what the heck are you doing in there?!" Ranma growled, ignoring Elepounder for the moment.

"Oh," Draco spoke, not noticing Elepounder just yet. "There was this bowl of Ramen that I found on the counter in this box. I didn't think it belonged to anyone so I dug in. Next thing I know I'm being shook like crazy and then I hear about a star beast so where is-WOAH!"

Draco's shock was revealed when he turned to see Elepounder staring down at them. He slipped out of the box and onto Ranma's shoulder. The star beast in front of them just snroted as he saw the tiny dragon making his getaway.

"So, Draco is alive after all," he spoke. "So then the two of you must be Celestial Knights. It will be my pleasure to destroy you."

Ranma and Mousse both took ready positions, preparing for battle. Mousse was prepared to fight with his own two hands, but Ranma reached into her pocket and pulled out her advent case. She held it up and prepared to fight.

"Lunar Knight Power!" she called as the metal belt appeared around her slim waist. "Henshin!"

She snapped the white case into place and was enveloped by white light. It quickly faded and Lunar stood in her place. A MALE Lunar. He looked himself over for a moment and couldn't believe his good luck. The magic from the cards nullified his curse so long as he was using it! Lunar wanted to jump for joy but seeing that Elepounder was ready to fight kind of killed that desire.

"Saotome?!" Mousse gaped as he saw Lunar's ensemble. "What? Where?"

"Fight now! Talk later!" Lunar shouted before he and Elepounder charged at each other.

The elephant star beast had power on his side. A lot of it. However, Lunar and Mousse were fast enough to avoid him. Unfortunately, his armor was too think for their weapons to pierce. After another unsucsessful strike, Lunar leaped back before drawing a card and sliding into his sword.

"_Sword Vent,_" was called before the large lance appeared in Lunar's hands.

"Let's see you block this!" Lunar shouted before he leaped at Elepounder.

Elepounder was about to throw one of his massive punches when chains suddenly wrapped around his arm, stopping it. He looked to see the chains coming out of Mousse's sleeves. The myopic boy grinned as Lunar slashed downward with his lance. The star beast reeled in pain, but it didn't seem that anything serious had been inflicted. Elepounder then yanked his restrained arm and flung Mousse across the room and sent him crashing through a crumbling wall. He came to a stop as he hit a second wall. He groaned before becoming still, his breathing the only thing telling Lunar that he was alive.

Lunar growled before he turned back to the laughing Elelpounder. With a shout of rage, he leaped at his opponent, aiming to destroy him.

-----------------------------------------------------

The four Senshi were making their way over rooftops towards the people that were being attacked. They guessed thhat Ranma could take care fo himself but they weren't so sure of the other two. Sailor Jupiter noticed it first. The old building with the hole in the roof was a pretty big clue.

"Over here guys!" she called before leaping to the building in question.

The other Senshi quickly followed and soon they were all gathered on the celing, they made their way to the hole which had sounds of fighting echoing through it. Jupiter dashed to leap in but suddenly found that something was keeping her from entering. Namely a kick to the side. With a geat amount of pain and force, Jupiter was knocked to the ground as she tumbled to a stop. All four Senshi looked at their attacker and found themselves looking at...a rat.

It was a star beast, but it was also a rat. It stood on two legs which bent at an odd angle, but still looked quite strong. It had broad shoulders and an armored chest. The arms were thick but the fingers looked flexible despite the steel covering them. An armor plated tail came from the rear and an armored rat's head on it's neck. The entire creature was gray with yellow eyes. It did not look very friendly.

"I hate rats," Sailor Neptune frowned as she and the other stared down their opponent.

The rat roared a squealing battle cry and charged at the four Senshi. They all dodged to the side as the rat swiped at them and left claw marks in the ground. It turned it's gaze over to Sailor Neptune and hissed angrily before charging straight at her. Neptune watched carefully before launching a counterattack.

"_Neptune Deep Submerge!_" she called and sent the water attack splashing into the star beast.

The force of the attack put it to the ground and swept it away into a corner. The star beast just shook his head before standing up again. It eyed the four Senshi in what seemed to be a mocking manner before it took a position similar to what Neptune used to launch her attack.

"_Neptune Deep Suberge!_" it called, mimicking Neptune's voice and firing a similar attack right back at the Senshi.

The Senshi were shocked at this little revealation and were swept away by by the waters and slammed into the opposite corner that the rat had been in. They were all caughing water as they managed to get back up again.

"He stole Neptune's attack!" Jupiter frowned.

"What do you bet that he can do the same for other attacks if he can see them?" asked Uranus with a frown.

"I won't be taking those odds," Naeptune replied. "But I do think I have a way to beat him despite that."

She whispered to her fellow Senshi before the four of them broke contact and spilit up. They all went to the four corners of the building as the rat moved to the centre. It was peering at all of them, ready for anything.

"_Jupiter Supreme Thunder Crash!_" Jupiter shouted as she shot lightning out of her tiara.

The rat star beast easily dodged it, and was taking the position she took on his way back down, but something caught him unaware.

"_Uranus World Shaking!_"

"_Neptune Deep Submerge!_"

"_Saturn Silence Glaive Surprise!_"

He was blindsided in three directions as the attacks blasted into his hide. The star beast roared in agony as the energies caused him pain. The roof under his feet couldn't take the impact of three magical attacks and cracked under the pressure before breakign and taking the rat with it. The rat star beast landed with a thump as it was covered with rubble. It was out cold. It was forunate that it was since the rat had landed only a few feet from Mousse, who was clinging to conciousness.

"Gah!" Elepounder groaned when he spied the rat through a doorway. "Scavenger! How useless are you?! You were supposed to keep others away!"

He looked to the celing and saw the four Sailor Senshi leap inside. Lunar also witnessed their entry and nodded to them.

"About time someone showed up!" he shouted. "I can't hold this guy forever!"

The battle was joined at this point. The four Sailor Senshi and the one Royal Knight combating against the giant star beast. As this was going down, Mousse was getting more of his senses back after he heard the word useless.

"I am not useless you old bag!" he slurred as he opened his eyes behind his cracked glasses. His mind thinking that the word useless was being used in referance to him like it usually was when he screwed up on something. It wasn't his fault that his eyesight was so bad. He wore his glasses when it was important but his sight was still screwy at times. What could he do about it? "Do you hear me? I AM NOT USELESS!"

Draco heard the cry of anger and depression and moved to see Mousse trying to get up. It marvelled Draco how one boy could take punishment like that and still get back up for more. However, he wa soveerjoyed to see something appearing over Mousse's heart. A green symbol for Jupiter.

"Excuse me," Draco called, causing Mousse to squint at him.

"A talking snake!" the boy gasped.

"I AM NOT A SNAKE!!" Draco bellowed reflexively before regaining himself. "I have something that will be able to help you defeat that creature and get back what he stole from the young lady."

"You do?" Mousse gasped. He then picked Draco up and began shaking him. "Well? Hand it over already!"

Draco bit Mousse's hand, which allowed him to get to the ground while Mousse clutched his hand in pain. "Alright already! Here you go." 

He pulled out a green case and threw it to the myopic boy, "There it is. You'll have to make a contract with a star beast. I we're lucky we'll be able to catch Elepounder off guard and bring him over to our side."

Mousse however, wasn't listening. He squinted at the green case both with and without his glasses. While his glasses were off, he pulled out a card and held it out. He didn't know that he was holding his only contract card and that the face was pointing away from him. Unfortunately, he was also pointing it at the rat star beast Scavenger. It wasn't unexpected to see that he was surprised that the bright light had erupted from the card.

From his slumber in the piled up rubble, Scavenger began to stir. Energy flooded into him from the light as his armor began to shift. The large portions turned intp a shade of green reserved for jade while the edges turnedd into a nice shade of bronze. Scavenger began to stand up and shake the rubble off of him. He opened his eyes to reveal a clear gaze of crystal blue. He looked forward to see a gaping dragon and the one who had contracted him.

Mousse slapped his glasses back on after seeing the light and saw Scavenger in front of him and on the card he was holding, "Oh. So this is my contract. I suppose I could do worse."

"Wasted," Draco muttered to himself. "A perfect chance wasted."

Mousse slipped the card into the case as a rat symbol appeared on the front just in front of the symbol of Juipiter. He gazed at the two symbols before information flew into his mind. Holding the case out in front of him, he prepared to change.

"Zeus Knight Power!" he called, summoning the metal belt. "Henshin!"

He slid the case into place and was enveloped in green light. When the light cleared, the knight of Jupiter, Zeus, appeared.

He wore the black body suit similar to the other knights, but that was where the similarities ended. His chest armor hugged his frame and was very smooth with green metal and bronze highlights. It looked very light and made for moving fast. His shoulderpads were smooth and were solid green. His armbands were solid bronze, but the one on the left was adorned with a small shield that resmbled rat's head. His boots were green except for the kneecaps and the ankles which were bronze. Finally, his helmet had a straight line for a vizor and had a bronze mouthguard. Near hsi ears were two triangular bits which were flattened against his head and looked something like rat ears.

"Hey!" Zeus cried. "I can see perfectly!"

"I'm not surprised," Draco nodded. "The visors always allowed the wearer to optimize their sight. Now get out there and stop Elepounder!"

Zeus nodded and dashed into the next room where the fight was taking place. Scavenger remained behind until he got the signal. Zeus looked at the fight and saw that it was still up in the air. The Senshi were firing attacks and Lunar was using his lance but Elepounder's hide was so thick he could shrug them off despite the obvious pain. Elepounder, likewise was throwing punches and kickes everywhere but he was so slow, everyone was able to dodge it. Shampoo was still out cold but was far enough away from the fight to avoid getting hit.

"I guess I should push the fight in our advantage," he muttered to himself.

He reached to his belt and drew a card. He then sqeezed a handle that was in his hand and attatched to the shield. The muzzle of the rat head extended to reveal a hidden compartment. Zeus slipped the card in and then shut the chamber.

"_Strike Vent,_" a voice called.

This is when everyone finally took notice of Zeus. They had all turned and saw the green clad warrior wielding a bronze and green whip that looked to have razor edges and capable of shredding steel. The Senshi were reminded of Scavenger's tail when they looked at it.

"Another one?!" Elepounder gasped. As if one and the Senshi weren't bad enough.

Zeus cracked his whip and charged straight for Elepounder. The elephant star beast tried to crush him, but Zeus was too fast. Whenever Elepounder would try hit him, the knight of Jupiter would crack his whip and leave a searing line of burning pain and chipped armor across his body.

"I'm not letting you have all the fun!" Lunar snapped as he drew another card and slid it into his sword.

"_Strike Vent,_" was called before two armored boots resembling horse hooves appeared on his feet.

Lunar took a flying leap and slammed both of his feet into Elepounder's chest before unleashing a destructive scissor kick. The Sailor Senshi didn't remain idle as they sent their own attacks stright at the raging star beast.

"_Jupiter Supreme Thunder Crash!_"

"_Saturn Silence Glaive Surprise!_"

"_Uranus World Shaking!_"

"_Neptune Deep Submerge!_"

The four magical attacks converged on their target and blasted him. Elepounder bellowed in pain as he was ejected through the wall and sent several storeys to the ground. He smashed into the pavement and left a small crater. The knights and Senshi didn't waste any time as they quickly followed him. Zeus quickly drew another card and slid it into his shield.

"_Sword Vent,_" was called before a European sword appeared in his hands. What was odd about it was that it looked like two sword halves put togeether with a gap in between. Kind of like a pair of rat's teeth.

"It will...take more than...that toothpick...to beat me," Elepounder grunted.

"I know," Zeus nodded as he drew a card. "That's why I'm going to do this,"

He slide the new card into the compartment and shut it as the voice spoke, "_Final Vent!_"

Zeus' sward split into two as Scavenger came scrambling down the side of the building before coming to a stop next to his master. He then wrapped his tail around Zeus' midsection and looked to Zeus for conformation.

"_Storm Spin!_" he called.

Scavenger then dashed away from his master as fast as he could. His tail also unravelled and made Zeus spin at a deadle speed. Since he was holding a shap sword in both hands, there was an emphasis on the deadly. Zeus continued his spin right at Elepounder with a glare in his eyes. The spinning knight made contact with it's target and Elepounder expoded in a blaze. Zeus stopped spinning and combined his swords into one again. He looked back to where Elepounder was and saw the sphere that was his power. Quickly drawing another card, he slid it into his shield.

"_Seal Vent,_" was spoken before an overjoyed Scavenger absorbed the sphere of energy.

Lunar watched this happen as a card fluttered down from the sky and he caught it. Seeing the armored panther on it, he knew that this was Shampoo's star beast. Looking back to the building, he decided that he should return it before something else happened. When he was looking at the hole in the wall, he though the saw the light reflect off something but deemed it to be a trick of th light. He also reasoned that since Draco ate his ramen, he was now disqualified from the race.

'Little snake's going to pay for that one,' Lunar swore to himself silently.

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Later, when Ranma finally got home after a clothes and gender change since he returned to female form when he transformed back, the whole Tendo house was in celebration. It turned out that Akane had won the race since Ranma and Shampoo were busy dealing with the monster. Akane was smiling at her victory while the family enjoyed their free orders of eel. Genma was too busy stuffing his face to moan about 'how weak his son was.' Nabiki was also in a pretty good mood for a change. It turns out that everyone had taken bets on either Ranma or Shampoo to win. Since Akane had won, she got to keep all the money. Kasumi though, upon seeing Ranma, smiled brightly before walking over to him so that they were face to face.

"I'm very proud of you Ranma," she whispered to him before planting a small kiss on his cheek. "Please be careful."

She then walked back into the kitchen. Ranma just watched her go now thouroghly confused.

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Cologne watched the replay of the martial arts race that turned into a magical free-for-all. She had heard of the Sailor Senshi and their power but knew better than to try and mess with them. Some magics the amazons knew not to trifle with. She also watched with interest at the two knights who were fighting the creature. She could only catch glimpses of them through the hole in the celing that the helicopter wes ooking through, but she easily recognised the fighting styles. She saw the evidence, but couldn't quite believe it.

"Those boys," she sighed as Shampoo walked past with more orders. "Grandaughter, remember you punishment for being caught by surprise!"

"Yes great grandmother," Shampoo nodded.

Cologne had punished Shampoo for ignoring her intincts and getting caught by the beast so she had to work extra hours. Cologne had also left Mousse alone since he got back. If her suspicions were correct, the boy would be able to bring down soemthign even she never experienced in her 300 years of life down on her head.

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Nodoka was also watching the battle between the Senshi, knights, and the monster. She was very impressed by the knights. They were just so incredibly manly. To be as powerful as them and consort with so many magical girls was an epitone of manliness to her. Something that came to her attention was the style the white knight was using inside the building. It was the exact same style that she had been teaching her manly son. When she recognised it, a surge of admiration came into her. Her hope was that this white knight was her son. She giggled when she thought of it. Her son was certainly manly enough to be one of there new heroes, and consort with magical girls. As she lay to sleep for the night dreams entered her head of magical grandchildren.

Ranma wasn't going to know what hit him.

To Be Continued...

A/N: There's chapter four for everyone. Ranma and Mousse have been exposed to three people and possibly more. How did they find out? Do more people know? Were their identities exposed to everyone? How did they see the fight? That will all be answered in the next chapter. I also know a lot of people didn't want another NWC memeber to be a knight but I consider Mousse to be one of the founders and he was long overdue for some appreciation in my eyes. I won't be using the NWC for more knights for a while after this, if ever again. So if you're upset about who I picked this time, just wait until the next chapter and it might cheer you up.


	5. Two For One

I do not own Sailor Moon, Ranma1/2, or Kamen Rider Ryuki. Those all belong to their respective creators and not me. It's as simple as that so don't go trying to sue me for something.

-Ten-Faced Paladin

Knights of the Silver Millenium

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 5: Two for One

The Tendo home was in a rare form of peace that most would consider a true blessing from Kami-sama. right after those people would think that, they would see a certain pigtailed martial artist get fired through the roof by an angry tomboy and her mallet. With that in mind, the people who lived near the dojo just enjoyed the peace and tried not to invoke the little goblin thta was Murphy's law.

Ranma himself was actually enjoying the peace that the day had decided to reward him with. Ryoga was nowhere to be seen and Mousse was leaving him alone. Weither it was because Shampoo was too busy to glomp him or they were now technically allies, Ranma couldn't be sure. Akane was with her friends for the day while the fathers just played shogi while no doubt plotting on ways to get Ranma and Akane together despite the amount of protests that they were met with. Nabiki was upstairs doing her expenses while Kasumi was humming away in the kitchen.

Ranma was currently considering just how his world had changed. The whole knight business was pretty fun in his opinion. He could fight strong opponents like the star beasts and get some training for his mom's sword style. He got to meet the Sailor Senshi, (Nabiki still wouldn't leave him alone about that) and he may or may not have gotten his two main headaches off of his back.

Another thing he was thinking about was Kasumi. Not in the romantic way of course, but she was acting differently than usual. Not anything odd like that oni that had posessed her, but just slightly different. She had been giving him brighter smiles whenever she met up with him and had even managed to give him bigger helpings of dinner. She would even do his laundry first before anyone elses. When he tried to ask her about it, she just smiled and told him that she was doing her part to try and help him out.

Kasumi herself was considering what she had found out after the take-out race. Her father was just so proud that Akane had won the race and instantly saw it as a way to prove that she was Ranma's future wife because she was such a fierce warrior. Akane vehemently denied it and ranted that Ranma was probably too busy with his hussies to care about the race. Kasumi had just frowned for a microsecond, feeling bad because Akane was so untrusting of Ranma. The frown was only for a microsecond when she saw the replay of the race. Only Nabiki and Kasumi had been totally surprised by the footage. Akane didn't notice while the fathers just figured Ranma would win. She couldn't vouch for Nabiki but Kasumi was very worried about Ranma. He was an incredible fighter but he had only went up against human opponents. This was a monster. Her worry had increased when the monster was seen fighting the Senshi and the knights. However, she instantly recognised how the white knight, Lunar she recalled, was fighting. It was easy for her to see it. How long had she seen Ranma practising? Both with the sword and with his fists? Kasumi was completely surprised when she saw it. Her little brother was the knight that arrived recently. Kasumi's suprise was short lived before pride filled her heart. She was just so proud of him that she thought she would burst.

This is what was getting Kasumi to treat Ranma a little better than before. She knew that he had some very serious responsibilites now and he didn't need to be stressed at the moment. Ranma just thought of it as a small blessing and didn't want to kick a gift horse in the mouth.

"So Ranma," Draco sighed from where he was sitting on the table while they watched TV. "Any ideas on who the newest knights may be?"

"Why are you asking me?" Ranma frowned, looking at the small dragon. "You're the advisor."

"I know," Draco sighed. "But so far the knights are people who are connected to you. Are there anymore martial artists that could compare to you or the others?"

"Plenty," Ranma snorted. "Konatsu, Taro, Kuno I guess, and maybe a few others. I hope Kuno isn't though. I don't think the world would be able to stand him if he was a knight."

"I'd agree to that," Draco shuddered. He had never met anyone who was as self-absorbed as the delusional kendoist.

As Ranma was pondering if he should get some training done, Nabiki had finally arose from her room and made her way downstairs. She was holding a flyer and was looking over the print with her cold gaze. Ranma knew that look all too well. She was looking to see if it was really legit or if it was some kind of scam. She was actually staring at it so intently she may have well burned a hole right through the papaer. Kasumi spied her walking through the house and decided to see what was holding her attention so intently.

"What are you looking at Nabiki?" she asked gently.

"A serious opportunity sis," Nabiki replied, not looking away from the paper. "If it's true anyway."

"What do you mean?" Kasumi pressed.

"It's a draw for some contest at the edge of the district," nabiki explained. "The prizze is a million Yen. That kind of money would really help the finances around here."

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped in shock.

"Yeah," Nabiki nodded. "Opportunities like this don't come by often but things like this usually are scams anyway. I also prefer to depend on skill rather than luck."

Saying those words suddenly reminded Nabiki about Ranma. The guy had a large amount of dumb luck on his side. It usually failed him around women but it worked with other things. He also had some fast moves that might get her the prize money if she 'persuaded' him in just the right way. Besides, she would probably need a bodyguard in case she did win and had to bring home the prize.

"Oh Ranmaaaaaaa," Nabiki called sweetly as she stepped towards the pigtailed martial artist.

Ranma shivered as he heard Nabiki call his name. He recognised that tone of voice all too easily. It signaled the release of all the money that he had been saving up since the last time Nabiki had managed to scam him. Taking a deep breath, Ranma turned to see the middle Tendo daughter walking towards him with a smile on her face.

:"What?" Ranma asked, preparing for yet another scam.

"I need a little favor," Nabiki replied, trying to sound innocent. "It seems that there's a big draw going on at the edge of the district and I thought that we should go."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked. Why would Nabiki want to bring him anywhere? "What's the catch? Am I the prize or something?"

"Nothing like that, though it is a good idea for some later business," Nabiki smirked, which caused Ranma to curse inwardly at his big mouth. "No this is a draw for some serious cash. I know that you have some luck on yoour side so I figured that you'd be kind enough to help me win that prize."

Draco was blinking at the exchange alongside Ranma. Now that Nabiki's incentive was figured out, Ranma just had to figure out just why Nabiki wanted him to be the one to help her.

"Why do you want Ranma to come?" the small dragon asked. "You two usually do nothing together."

"True," Nabiki nodded. "But I do know that Ranma has some serious cheating skills on his side. Like the Gambling King incident proved. Either that or just dumb luck anyway. Either of those would be rather useful to me at the moment."

"So what if I win?" Ranma frowned. "What do I get out of this?"

"Simple," nabiki replied, her Ice Queen smile coming to light. "If you help me then I'll cancel some of the debt you owe me. If you manage to win then give me the money I'll subtract it from your debt."

"I suppose that if I say no you'll just add interest to what I already owe won't you?" Ranma frowned.

"And people say you're a dummy outside martial arts," Nabiki smiled. "Draco must be a positive influence on you."

Ranma glanced at his reptillian advisor before heaving a sigh and sitting up, "I don't suppose that I really have any choice at the moment."

"Great!" Nabiki smiled."Get your shoes Ranma, we're heading out right now!"

Nabiki then walked out of the room. Ranma sighed for a moment before he got to his feet, albiet reluctantly.

"Good luck out there Ranma," Draco grinned. "You'll need it."

"What are you talking about?" Ranma smirked while grabbing the dragon around the torso. "You're coming with me!"

"Ulp," Draco gulped.

--

Genbu watched the crystal in front of him from the comfort of his throne. He was tapping his staff against the ground in a monotone tempo. He was the only member of the Shishin that was in the room at the time. Suzaku, Seiryuu and Byakko were all in ther chambers doing whatever it was that they did in their spare time. Genbu heaved a sigh as he thought about the actions of his fellow warriors.

'Blast those Sailor Senshi and Celestial Knights,' he growled in thought. 'Each time we make a plan they somehow get involved and our star beasts end up getting destroyed. We can't even revive them because the knights seal their energy within their own beasts so we can't touch them! It's perfectly infuriating!'

Genbu stopped tapping his staff for a moment when his thoughts turned to his comrades. Seiryuu was the only memeber that Genbu had any measure of respect for. He was the one who kept an eye on the big picture and kept the others from veering off. He saw Suzaku as a temptress who couldn't keep her mind on anything beyond what concerned her. Byakko was just a coward in Genbu's opinion who refused to take the steps that were needed to end this useless brawl with the humans.

Now it was Genbu's turn to try and find the Saint Beasts. Seiryuu had theorised that the beasts would give their charges a connection to magic. It was a strong possibility but it was also an obvious one. Byakko had decided that they were hidden within strong warriors. Again possible but also obvious. Suzaku had yet to make a choice on the matter.

Genbu himself had his own theory. When the Saint Beasts managed to slip from their fingers, they would actually hide. Of course, they were so strong there was no way tha a normal human wouldn't be affected by them. So the gifts that the beasts bestowed on those they protected would have to be something that most people wouldn't notice. Something that people wouldn't consider an extrordinary gift or even something that they would try to keep away from.

It had taken some thinking and searching on Genbu's part but he finally found someone who had matched that criteria. She was rather infamous in her own district and not a lot of people liked to do business with her. Genbu however, very much desired to meet her. She showed an impressive amount of cunning and intelligence for someone her age. Most people her age thought below the belt or just had air in their heads for the most part. This girl knew almost everything that was going on in her district, and the things she didn't know were covered by people who she knew did.

The hard part was finding a way to corner her. As ruthless and cunning as she was, she also had a keen eye for anything that was out of the ordinary, which was kind of useless considering where she lived. That was when Genbu discovered her desire for money. The girl had a soft spot for her family and was using her talents so that she and her family weren't forced out onto the street. She was a girl who easly believed that the ends justified the means.

"Soon Nabiki Tendo," Genbu smirked from behind his metal helmet. "Soon we shall see if a Saint Beast is watching over you."

--

Ranma sulked as he followed Nabiki towards the stall that the draw was supposedly happening at. Draco had merged himself with Ranma's shirt again so a dragon print was wrapped around his torso. Nabiki had a smile on her face and yen signs in her eyes. She was already counting the money that was the main prize of the draw. They both turned another corner and both stopped abruptly. In front of them was a mob of people all clamoring for their chance to win a million yen. Nabiki's face didn't change for a second while she swiftly gestured Ranma to follow her as they entered the masses. People were pushing each other and wanting to get in badly. Nabiki sighed in exasperation before she tugged Ranma's shirt and whispered something to him, unheard by the raging masses. Ranma's face took on a frown but he nodded. Swiftly taking the middle Tendo daughter into his arms, Ranma leaped straight into the sky, shocking the excited mob, and landed stright at the front of the door that led inside the building. The people were staring blankly at that. Remember that these people lived on the edge of Nerima and Juuban so they weren't as used to the native wierdness as were the people closer to the centre.

Letting Nabiki down, both she and Ranma quickly entered the building where the draw was. Strangely, they were met by a sort of calm with people sitting in a waiting room or leaning against the walls. At the back of the room was a reception desk where a man stood with a tumbler on the desk surface. Nabiki eyes everything around her and was satisified for the moment before walking to the front desk.

"Excuse me," she spoke up sweetly. "Is this where the million yen draw is? I assume it is since the mob outside seemed pretty desperate to get in."

The man looked up to her and grinned. he looked like a very generic person but his eyes were a strange sort of gray. His hair was also so dark it could almost considered blue.

"You have the right place," the man replied while taking out a slip of paper. "We only ask that you wait in an orderly fashion until your number is called. Some people have actually been waiting since last night to get here."

Nabiki nodded as she took the slip. It had the number 44 on it. She now knew that chances to win must be limited so that would explain the mob outside.

"We call for the winner at noon," the man continued. "This is sort of like an endurance test. If you can stay in the building until the time is called then you can compete but if you leave then you forfeit your place in the drawing."

"Got it," Nabiki nodded, now positive that this was legit. You could only find something this crazy inside Nerima. Compared to other events it was tame but it was still crazy enough.

While Nabiki was dealing with the man at the desk, Ranma was leaning against the wall, absolutely bored. This had nothing to do with martial arts so he really wasn't interested in it. Sighing, he leaned his head on the wall and shut his eyes. However, it wasn't long before something similar to the sound of a chainsaw cut through his ears. Snapping his eyes open, he turned to see the source and found it to be two people he knew from school. Hiroshi and Daisuke.

"Hiroshi?" Ranma gaped. "Daisuke?"

Ranma's two classmates and arguably the only two friends he had in Nerima were sound asleep in chairs. Hiroshi had his head leaning on Daisuke's shoulder while Daisuke was leaning back with a line of drool coming from his mouth. Both were snoring loudly.

-_Well, at least you won't be lonely while you're waiting,_- Draco lamaneted through his psychic link with Ranma.

Shaking his head, ranma leaned in close to Daisuke's head. Neither boy stirred as they snoozed so what Ranma did next caught them completely off guard.

"Wagh!" Ranma shouted loudly.

"Gahhh!" Daisuke cried while waking up, causing Daisuke to hit his head on the wall behind him.

"Ow!" Hiroshi groaned as he grasped his head before looking around. "Who did..? Oh, hey Ranma."

"Huh?" Daisuke blined, getting the fog out of his eyes. "Ranma? What are you doing here?"

"What else?" Ranma sighed. "Playing bodyguard for Nabiki."

"Oh," Hiroshi nodded. "Threat of intrest again?"

"Right," Ranma nodded. "How long have you guys been here anyway?"

"Dunno," Daisuke shrugged while scratching his head. "Couple of hours I guess."

There was a bell dinging again as the door opened for someone else who had gotten through the mob. The three boys looke dover to see a young woman with long black hair panting slightly. When she stood up and revealed her face, all three boys blinked. In Hiroshi and Daisuke's case, they almost began to drool.

"Oh man," Daisuke gaped. "What a babe!"

"I wonder if she's single," Hiroshi pondered.

Ranma on the other hand, had a very different reaction, "Hey Rei-chan!" he smiled as he called to the girl in question.

Rei turned to see who had called her name and she smiled when she saw the pigtailed martial artist. She quickly went over to him and trapped him in a hug. Usually she didn't do that for her friends but Ranma was an exception. They had a lot of catching up to do after all.

"Hi Ranma," she smiled brightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Playing bodyguard," Ranma shrugged. "I assume that the money is what brought you here?"

"Yeah," Rei nodded. "I have to admit though, a million Yen would be great for the Shrine. A little spending money wouldn't hurt either."

As Ranma and Rei went into conversation, both Hiroshi and Daisuke stared at Ranma in a mix of envy and contempt. Just how did he manage to meet all the hottest babes in town anyway? First Akane and then Shampoo and several other girls. Now he had another and it seemed that they had just met too!

"My my Ranma," A cool voicer interrupted. "Adding another girl to your harem?"

Ranma frowned and faced Nabiki who was looking at him and Rei with a cool look in her eyes. Ranma frowned as he glared at her. He could already tell how she was planning to sell info on Rei to the highest bidder. Rei blushed slightly at the insinuation that she and Ranma were in anyway intimate but she also remembered what Makoto had told the others after the race about Ranma's home life.

"She's not a fiancee Nabiki," Ranma frowned before he turned to Rei with a worried look on her face. "You aren't a fiancee are you?"

Trying not to idly wonder about married life between her and Ranma, Rei answered, "Not that I know of. Unless your father somehow convinced my grandfather to go for it. Not that he could if he tried."

Ranma sighed in relief as Nabiki lost the look in her eyes. That was before she looked to Rei with a curious glance in her eyes.

"Then how do you know Ranma?" she asked idly. From the way she acted familiar with Ranma, she might know some interesting facts about him.

"I met him when my grandmother managed to snap him out of his Neko Ken," Rei explained. "Genma really didn't stick around since my grandfather wanted to have a few 'words' with him about treating Ranma the way he did so I don't think that Ranma was engaged to me."

Nabiki filed the little story away for later. It would probably be of use should issues with Genma beyond his fat stomach and empty head ever come up. Most likely it would also have another fiancee wrapped in it too knowing how the man thought with his stomach more than anything else. Nabiki had wanted to ask a few more questions but Hiroshi and Daisuke had gotten tired of waiting around and swiftly stepped in front of Ranma and introduce themselves.

"My name's Hiroshi," the first of the sorta-dynamic duo introduced. "Any friend of Ranma's is a friend of mine. So long as they aren't a crazy strong martial artist."

"And my name's Daisuke," the second smiled. "I'm sixteen years old, a freshman at Furinkan High, and currently single!"

"Um," Rei sweatdropped. "Hi,"

From his desk, the man who was handing out tickets snickered as he stared at Nabiki's back. His master was correct. The girl truly was a sucker for money. All he had to do was ensure that she would win and get her alone. After that, her star beast would be captured and ready for the mighty Shishin!

--

Michiru was on another one of her grocery runs. They had run low and she volunteered to get some more. Setsuna was busy conferring with the tiem gates, no doubt speaking to her future self about what she would be allowed to tell. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa were spending the day together. Haruka was busy with her races again so it was up to Michiru to get anything that they needed.

While she was passing by one of her usual shops, she noticed a large group of people trying to get inside a certain building. Somewhat confused, she crossed the street and walked up to the building to see what the fuss was. When she drew closer, she saw a flyer stuck to the side advertising a draw for a million yen.

'That explains it,' she thought to herself. 'Anyone would want this sort of prize. Explains the mob anyway.'

looking to the front window, she was slightly surprised to see Ranma in there. He was also talking with Rei and two other boys. There was also another girl who was quietly observing the chatting people and saying something every now and then.

Deciding that now she just had to say hello, since she hadn't seen Ranma for over a year, Michiru calmly walked to the door of the building while the mob outside was ditracted with trying to ensure that no one else got it. She then calmly stepped inside and none of the mobbers were the wiser for it. After closing the door behind her, she stepped closer to the group of friends before a smile came to her face when Ranma saw her and blinked in surprise and recognition.

"Mi-chan?" Ranma gaped.

"Michiru?" Rei gasped as she turned around to see her fellow Senshi.

"Hello Rei," Michiru nodded before she stepped up to Ranma and hugged him, which he returned despite hsi shock. "It's god to see you again Ranma."

"You too Mi-chan," Ranma smiled as they seperated. "It's been a while."

While the two made small talk, Hiroshi and Daisuke thought they were going to have a hernia or something. Again, Ranma had caught the attention of a beatiful woman and this time she was a super-babe! Both of them wondered just how he kept meeting these women.

Nabiki meanwhile, thought her brain was going to blow a circiut. Right in front of her was the violin prodigy Michiru Kaioh and she had just walked up to Ranma and hugged him like they were old friends. She just couldn't figure out how a guy like Ranma could meet, much less be friends with a high class celebrity like Michiru.

"R-Ranma," she spoke, trying to keep her cool. "How long have you been friends with someone famous like Michiru Kaioh?"

"Oh, about over a year by now I think," Ranma replied while scratching his pigtail. "And what do you mean famous? Mi-chan's famous?"

The three Nerima residents just sighed heavily. Being on the road for ten years and then in constant battle for another one would cut someone off from social events. Michiru just smiled as Rei giggled slightly. At least they knew that Ranma wasn't friends with Michiru for her popularity now.

"You could say I am," Michiru confirmed to Ranma's question. "I'm somewhat well know with my music."

"Oh," Ranma grinned. "Yeah, you are sumthin' else with a violin. I remember hearing you play when we first met."

Before anyone else could speak, much less hit on Rei or Michiru in the cases of Hiroshi and Daisuke, the counter attendant stood up and called out to the people collected in the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he announced. "The time has come for me to announce the winner of the million Yen draw!"

Enthusiastic whoops of joy and cheers were heard all around. This included Hiroshi and Daisuke. Rei, on the other hand had sweatdropped and groaned darkly. She had been so caught up in talking to Ranma and his friends that she had forgotten to get her ticket. Now she didn't have a chance of winning the million Yen. The attendant just continued on his announcement by pulling out a large box filled with slips of paper. Everyone in the room had drawn quiet as they held up their tickets, hoping that the number he called out would be the one they held. The attendant reached in and started shuffling around inside the box.

While his hand was hidden fron view, it started to glow a deep blue. In the masses of slips one of them reacted. It began to glow the same shade as the attendants hand befre it slithered through through the other papers like it was alive and right into the attendants hand. Gripping it tightly, and with a small smirk, the attendant pulled the slip right out of the box as his hand stopped glowing. He then took a moment to glance at the paper, even if he already knew what number was going to be on it.

"And the lucky winner is...number 44!" he announced.

Dissapointed groans and whispered curses were uttered all around. Nabiki only had a victorius smile on her face. On the inside though, she was cheering like there was no tomorrow. She would do that on the outside but she did have a reputation to maintain. Instead, she just raised her ticket and walked over to the attendant before slapping to down on the desk.

"Congratulations ma'am," the attendant smile. "I'f you'll just follow me to the back I'll hand you your prize."

Nabiki nodded before both she and the attendant made their way into the back rooms. Thhey made their way through an open door before it led into a large room with a safe at the other end. When Nabiki walked through the door, the attendant closed the dor behind her. Unknown to her though, he locked it before making his way to the safe. When he stepped right in front of it though, he turned to face the middle Tendo daughter.

"Well Nabiki Tendo," he smiled. "There is only one more thing needed before you can claim your prize."

"Oh?" Nabiki asked in slight impatience. "And what would that be?"

"Oh just a little something," the attendant grinned as he suddenly became engulfed in a blue aura. "Your star beast!"

The next few moments were what seemed to change Nabiki's view on what was possible, and it was pretty warped as it was since Ranma came into her life. What happened right in front of her warped in even further. The attendant seemed to mutate right before her eyes until he barely looked human anymore. The change finished just as the blue glow faded from his body.

He looked like he was covered in a kind of organic armor. Barnacles and a bit of coral was draped all over his body. Each of his linbs ended in a point above his hands or feet. There was even one sticking out of his head! His faced became gray with one singular green eye in the centre with no mouth that was visible. The points on his limbs converged onto his chest. Where the gray organic ended,gray armor that was covered in various sea plants began. Nabiki thought her heart stopped when she stared into the creatures orb-like eye.

"You may call me Deepstar," the creature introduced. "The starfish starbeast."

Nabiki began to feel her ice queen mask shatter like glass. This was not some crazy martial artist that she could take advantage of and grab some yen. This was an honest-to-Kami-sama monster that most likely wanted to kill her! She wanted cry, scream, anything, but her voice had died in her throat.

Deepstar reached behind his back before bringing out what appeared to be a blank card of some kind.

"Now be a dear and hold still," he chucked as he prepared to throw the card. "This probably won't hurt but I wouldn't know. I've never had my soul stolen. You'd think it would hurt quite a lot."

Nabiki started shivering as she began to slowly back up, but Deepstar just kept takign steps toward her. He rshivering became more pronounced as she tugged at the door but found that it was locked and there wasn't a lock release on her side of the door. Deepstar let out a low rumble of a laugh as he drew back his arm.

"RANMA!" Nabiki screamed in terror.

Outside where the losers of the draw were waiting, everyone had left save for Hiroshi, Daisuke, Rei, Michiru, and Ranma. One was waiting for the feared ice queen while the other four were their for Ranma's company. Ranma was chatting lightly with Rei and Michiru, trying to do some catching up while Hiroshi and Daisuke were retelling some of Ranma's exploits that they were fortunate or unfortunate enough to witness. That and try to score some points with the two women so they could get a date. Of course, that came to a screeching halt when they heard Nabiki's scream echo through the building.

"Nabiki?" Ranma gaped as he heard her. The Nabiki he knew was never one to scream about anything. If she was screaming then there had to be something so wrong that the universe was tilting on it's axis! "Nabiki!"

Ranma charged for the back of the building with as much speed as he could. Rei and Michiru were quick to follow since the scream sounded terrified and they had their hidden duties as Senshi. Hiroshi and Daisuke just followed because they didn't want to miss the action. The five of them raced to the back of the building and found themselves blocked by a door that was locked tight. Ranma clutched the knob but couldn't open it.

"Nabiki!" he shouted. "Get away from the door!"

Ranma took a few steps back and cupped his hands together. Hiroshi and Daisuke knew what was going next so they pulled Michiru and Rei back so they wouldn't accidentally get hit. Both girls were confused but that quickly turned to shock when they both saw the blue energy that began collecting in Ranma's hands.

"MOUKO TAKABISHA!" he roared as he launched the orb of energy.

The concentrated ki smashed against the door and blew the wooden object into splinters. Insied the room, Nabiki had already gotten to the side when she heard Ranma's voice. Deepstar had been confident that this 'Ranma' would be unable to get through but that thought had been crushed when the door exploded and he found himself rained on by splinters. Looking to the thinning smoke, Deepstar saw five people come through. High school studdnts for the most part, but the one with the pigtail caught his attention. The boy was brimming with power! His aura was visible even to the naked eye!

"Amazing," Deepstar admired. "For a human boy to be this powerful. Maybe I'll be stealing your star beast one of these days. Unfortunately, I have a shcedule to keep."

Turning to the terrified Nabiki, he quickly hurled the blank card at a speed that made the Amiguriken seem slow. No one could move before the card attatched itself to Nabiki's chest. The middle Tendo daughter screamed in agony as her life energies, as well as her celestial guardian were drained from her. She dropped to the ground as an image appeared on the card of a large armored gorilla named Armbuster.

"No!" Ranma shouted before he turned to Deepstar, his aura turning into a blaze. "I'll make you pay for that!"

"Just try me boy!" Deepstar laughed.

Ranma knew that star beasts were at least as strong as Herb and that beating one without using his knight powers was probably going to be tricky. Still, he was a martial artist and it was a martial artist's duty to protect the weak as it was a knigh'ts duty to destroy evil. He would hold up both life laws no matter what form he was in.

"I'll do more than try," Ranma smirked before he lunged for his attack.

Deepstar stepped back as Ranma used a powerful roundhouse kick. The Starfish star beast caught it in his grip but Ranma then leaped from th ground with his other foot and plowed it into his eye. Stunbling back, Ranma brought bak his fist in a familiar stance.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMIGURIKEN!" Ranma called as he unleashed a barrage of rapid punches that totaled over 100.

Just like when Stallionstar had been corrupted, Deepstar was caught by surprise when the force of the blows actually sentt him back a foot or two. He caught himself before he could fall, but he was slightly unsteady on his feet for a breif moment.

"What?!" he coughed. "How can a human throw punches that quickly?!"

"Just takes training," Ranma smirked as he brought back his hands. "Just like this! MOUKO TAKABISHA!"

The orb of blue ko was quickly releashed and sent straight at Deepstar. The expolsion echoed through the building and Deepstar was hurled into the safe at the back of the room. The impact actually managed to break it open but nothing was visible was inside.

"You mean there'snot even any money," Ranma groaned. "Aw man."

Everyone who was witnessing the battle, were having different sorts of reactions.

"Wow," Hiroshi whistled. "I don't think I've seen Ranma fight this hard before."

"I'm with you," Daisuke agreed.

"Amazing," Michiru blinked. "He's become even more skilled than when I last saw him."

"Sugoi!" Rei squealed with sparkly eyes. "He looks so heroic!"

Deepstar groaned as he stood up from the rubble of the safe. He chuckled when he heard the remark Ranma made.

"True," he spoke. "There wasn't any money to begin with. I just made it up so to attract Nabiki Tendo here. She was the true target the entire time! Anyway, as much as I would love to finish this fight, I do have a shcedule to keep so I'll just have to finish you all quickly. Wildstrype! Rammerhead!"

Deepstar snapped his fingers and the air on both sides of him began to ripple before there was a brief flash of light. When it died down there were two more star beasts on either side of him. The one on his left was a large tiger that was the sie of a horse. It's body was covered in smooth grey armor that had black stripes all over it. Each segment was also lined on the edge with a darker gray. The animal on the right was a ram of equal size. It's shoulders and torso seemed rather bulky while the head was fierce looking with two large curved horns. The neck of this star beast had segmented armor that allowed it free motion. Both monsters eyes were a sickly green color.

"Oh man," Daisuke grimaced.

"C-c-c-c-CAAAAT!!" Ranma immediately screamed out as his eyes lay on the tiger star beast known as Wildstrype. He was backing up quickly as he fearfully tried to get some distance between himself and the armored feline. If normal cats wer enightmares, to Ranma, this star beast was a glimpse into hell.

'_Don't you dare wimp out on me now!_' Draco barked inside of Ranma's conciousness. '_It's just a star beats that only looks like a cat!_'

'_It's still enough like a cat for me!_' Ranma mentally retorte das he broke out in a cold sweat. He felt fine with the distance he had from the tiger star beast, but it still scared him to look at it.

'_Fine, if it bugs you that much then I think I have something that might help,_' Draco sighed. When he finished speaking, Ranma felt a warm sensation spreading through his body. As the warmth continued to spread, Ranma's fear began to weaken until it became a poitn where he couldn't feel it anymore.

'_What did you do?_' Ranma asked in amazement to the dragon that was bonded to him.

'_I opened your link to Stallionstar,_' Draco explained. '_He's not afraid of cats so his courage can keep your fear at bay. Now, stop gawking like an idiot and GET IN THERE AND FIGHT!_'

Ranma nodded and looked to stare at the three star beasts in front of him. The pigtailed martial artists knew he was good, but even he was unsure if he was strong enough to fight off not one, but three star beasts.

"So it seems the fool got his spine back," Deepstar spoke to his two comrades. "In that case, why don't you two eat the four witneses while I take care of this one here?"

The tiger and ram growled in agreement before the charged to devour the teens. That was all the incentive needed for Hiroshi, Daisuke, Michiru, and Rei to make a break for it. They raced out of the room with the two beasts following their trail.

"No!" Ranma frowned before he tried to give chase, but he found his shoulder grabbed from behind befre he was hurled into a wall.

"Oh no you don't boy," deeostar laughed. "I'm going to finish you off before taking miss Tendo's star beast to my masters, the Shishin!"

"Heh," Ranma smirked as he stood up while reaching into his pocket. What he pulled out was his advent cards.

"What?!" Deepstar gasped. "An advent deck?! But...that means..."

"Got it in one pal," Ranma smirked. "Lunar Knight Power! Henshin!"

Ranma snapped the case into his belt which had appeared as he spoke. He was then enveloped in a haze of white light before he re-emerged as Lunar. Gripping his sword, he drew it and pointed it at Deepstar menacingly.

"Well," Deepstar spoke. "This was unexpected. My trap not only drew in my target, but one of the celestial knights as well."

Suddenly, Lunar's chest armor flashed befre Draco could be seen being launched from it onto the ground.

"Ow," Draco groaned. "Next time remember to let me out before you transform!"

"Stuff it!" Lunar shot back. "Just make sure that the others get to safety!"

"Will do!" Draco nodded before he slithered from the room.

"Let him try," Deepstar sniffed as he turned back to face Lunar. "I doubt he will get there in time."

"Then you don't know Draco!" Lunar roared before he charged.

Lunar unleashed a number of slashes as Deepstar moved to avoid them. Every movement was done with flexibility and ease by both parties, proving that they were no slouches when it came to battle. However, Lunar had been in some form of combat almost his entire life so finding the best moment to strike was just a matter of time. When Deepstar tried to retreat for some breathing space, Lunar took the opportunity and slashed deeply into his shoulder.

Deepstar let off a roar as his arm dropped to the floor. He stumbled backwards as he gripped the stump. Lunar shook his head as he rested his sword on his shoulder.

"Wow, sure don't make star beasts like they used to," he mocked.

"Heh," Deepstar laughed. "They truly don't. A shame."

Removing his hand from his stump, Lunar was shocked to see the thestum quickly grow into a new arm.

"And there's more!" Deepstar laughed as he pointed to his old arm.

Lunar turned hs gaze to the detatched body part and felt queasy at seeing it move on it's own. What was more disturbing was the face that the cut end was bulging. At first, Lunar thought that he would be the first magic hero to be sick in his helmet but it quickly subsided when he saw the arm grow a new body. Instead of one Deepstar, there were now two!

"Greetings! I am Deepstar 2," the new star beast laughed.

"Oh crap," lunar groaned as he gripped his sword tightly.

--

Menawhile, things with the others weren't looking too bright either. The four teens had been pursued down the halls of the building and right out the back doors of the building by the two star beasts. Michiru and Rei knew that they had to transform but with Hiroshi and Daisuke were with them. So unless they wanted to reveal their identities, they couldn't transform.

Currently, the four of them had been chased down a back alley by the two beasts. They had coninued running until they had come to a crossroads. Neither way showed any kind of way out of their current mess. Michiru and Rei however, did see a way for them to save the two boys and get a private place to transform.

"Hiroshi, Daisuke!" Rei said urgently. "You two take the way on the left. "Michiru and I will go right."

"What?" Daisuke gaped. "But what if one or both of those things go after you?!"

"If we can get to a wide open space then someone will see us and hopefully help will arrive," Michiru explained confidentally. "Now hurry!"

Hiroshi and Daisuke wantd to complain but the roar of the tiger star beast ut them off. Reluctantly, they started on their own way down the left alley. Michiru and Rei watched them go before the spotted the tiger and ram racing towards them from the alley that they had just come down from. Letting the two see them, Michiru and Rei raced down the alley on the right. The star beasts didn't even hesitate in following them. The alley itself wasn't very long so both girls and star beasts came out into an open area before too long. The only problem was that it was a sculpture park with plenty of people walking around. Of course, when a giant tiger and ram come crashign through, the people don't stay for very long. The screaming and yelling civillians quickly vacated so that only Michiru and Rei were left.

Both star beasts looked rather hungry at the moment as they stared down the two girls.

"Now it's time do what we do best," Rei smiled as she reached for her Henshin stick.

Both star beasts roared and began their charge. Michiru and Rei were about to call out the words which would allow them to transform in Sailor Mars and Sailor Neptune, but fate had decided against that for the moment.

"Banzai!" two male voices cried out loud.

The charge of the two star beasts was halted when they both felt something heavy on their backs. Quickly after that, their eyes were covered by whatever had been dumb enough to fall on their backs. Both beats were a little startled at theis and began thrashign wildly, but Michiru and Rei were even more suprised to see just who was causing this little mess for the beasts.

"Hiroshi?! Daisuke?!" Rei gasped in horror.

"Hey!" Hiroshi grinned from the back of Rammerhead.

"I know, we're idiots!" Daisuke cried from Wildstrype's back.

Both girls were in a state of shock at what they were seeing. What they didn't know until now was that both boys had felt rather guilty about leaving them like that, probably being exposed to Ranma's sense of honor for a long period of time. They had both made the questionable decision of running back to face the star beasts and let the girls run. Highly noble, but the chances of survival were rather slim.

Both star beats gave off their own cries of anger before making a blind run straight ahead. Both of thm charged past the girls and deeper into the sculpture park. Michiru and Rei tried to give chase but both star beats quickly left them in the dust. With nothing else, both girls knew what they had to do.

"_Mars Star Power..._"

"_Neptune Planet Power..._"

_"MAKE UP!!_"

--

"Stop this crazy thing!" Daisuke shouted as Wildstrype went into a hissing frenzy trying to get him off.

"Why are you asking me?!" Hiroshi replied as Rammerhead went into a kicking rampage to relieve himself of his rider.

The two star beasts were going into fits of rage at the indignaty of someone trying to ride them. Hiroshi and Daisuke were both pretty scared and were hanging on for their lives. Both animals started thrashing around so wildly, the two hapless high scoolers just couldn't hang on anymore. With a final buck, both of them were sent rolling into the ground. They got up slowly to stare into the enraged eyes of the ram and tiger that they had humiliated with their joyriding.

"I guess this is it," Hiroshi gulped.

"What a crappy way to go," Daisuke sighed. "Eaten by a tiger."

Both animals let out a dark growl before they began walking for their prey. Hisoshi and Daisuke thought that this was going to be the real end when something, or more specifically someone, decided to intervene. Before either star beast could react, fireballs erupted from below and crashed into their faces, sending them reeling from pain and confusion. Hiroshi and Daisuke looked down to see Dracon blowing some smoke out of his mouth.

"Hey, you're Ranma's pet snake!" Daisuke announced.

"I AM NOT A SNAKE!" Draco shouted loudly, causing both boys to recoil. Draco sighed before looking at them both. "Okay boys. I know this isn't the time for asking questions so I'll make it brief. You two are Celestial knights destined to protect the princesses otherwise known as the Sailor Senshi."

"What?!" Both boys gaped.

"If you don't believe me then look where your heart is," Draco replied.

Both boys looked to their shirts to find a symbol glowing on their chests. Hiroshi had a red symbol for Mars while Daisuke had the blue symbol for Neptune. They were confused for a moment but they looked to Draco only to see him holding two cases. one was red while the other was a light blue.

"These are your advent decks," Draco hurredly explained. "You'll have to tame a star beast to use 'em but it just so happens that there are two of them right behind me. Just draw a card and hold 'em out!"

Now, Hiroshi and Daisuke weren't quite sure how this would help them, but it was way better than facing a fate of becoming an animal's dinner. Deciding to go for it, both boys drew a card from the cases and held the blank cards out at the now recovered star beasts. Light shone from the cards and the two beasts went balistic as it bathed them. The problem was that they wweren't able to move or do anything about it. Hiroshi and Daisuke were both shocked and amazed to see that the animals were beginning to change during the continued exposure.

Wildstrype's armor turned from a dull grew to a snow white. His stripes became more defined as the light washed over him. The lines of his armor turned a deep blue as did his eyes. Rammerhead's bulky body sections became a blazing red. His legs, neck, and horns became a shining bronze and his hooves turned jet black. His eyes changed from sick green to bright red. When the light hd finally died down, both animals had become calm and looked expactantly at the two boys.

Hiroshi and Daisuke looked at the cards and found portraits of the their respective star beasts on them. They looked at each other before sliding the card into their respective cases. That is when the chases changed. A ram symbol appeared on Hiroshi's case with the symbol of Mars behind it. A tiger symbol appeared on Daisuke's with the symbol of Neptune.

"Woah," Daisuke gaped. "So we have magic powers or something now?"

'Yep," Draco nodded with a grin. Wildstrype purred to second that answer.

"Wait a sec!" Hiroshi gasped. "Ranma's still back at the building fighting that other monster!"

"Crap, you're right!" Daisuke grimaced.

"Then you two had better transform and go help him!" Draco frowned. "Who knows what that star beast is capable of!"

Both boys nodded and held out their cases forward just like the knew knowledge in their heads told them to do.

"Aries Knight Power!" Hiroshi called.

"Poseidon Knight Power!" Daisuke called.

The familliar metal belts appeared on their waists before the two boys slid their deck cases into the slotson the front. There was a flash of light as they seemed to vanish. Draco, Rammerhead, and Wildstrype had to turn their heads away to avoid being blinded. When the light died down, Hiroshi and Daisuke had re-emerged looking very different.

Hiroshi's armor was for the most part crimson. The chest plate was red with bronze highlights and armor over the neck that was also bronze. His shoulderpads were entirely bronz with a red nid-section. His gauntlets were redwith bronze highlights. His boots were just as red as the rest of him but the feet were black instead. His helmet was mostle red but had a bronze mouthpieces. His visor was a black slit imbetween gray metal much like a European knight helmet. On either side of his head was a bronze horn styled after Rammerhead's. All this was worn over a red bodysuit. Hanging on his right side was a large handgun that was small enough to be held in one hand but big enough to warrant two if the person holding it wasn't confident. In front of where the triggwer was, there was a large box-like space that looked like it was where the weapon was loaded. On the part was the ram symbol that was on his belt.

Daisuke's armor was ver different from his friend's It was mostl white. The chest plates accented muscles with black stripes coming up the sides. His shoulder pads resembled tiger claws and his gauntlets were pure white with tiger stripes decorating it as well. His boots were just as white as the rest of his armor but there were no stipes on them. His hemet was smooth and the mouthguard was white along with the rest of it. Black stripes ran from the forehead and up the sides of his head. Near the top were two triangles that were similar to tiger ears. The visor was T-shaped. His bodysuit was a light blue color and a double-sided axe hang from his waist.

"Woah!" Aries gasped as he looked at himself. "This is so cool!"

"Yous said it!" Poseidon agreed as he admired his axe.

Wildstrype and Rammerhead seemed elated to see the knight forms of their new masters. Of course, when they wanted to leave, someone decided to make an appearance. More specifically, two someones.

"Stop right there!" a female voice called.

Aries and Poseidon turned to where the voice had originated from and both were very much surprised to see Sailor Neptune and Mars staring right back at them. Now Aries and Poseidon in civillian form a still high school boys and hogh school boys from Nerima generically stop thinking when faced with attractive young women. The Hentai Horde that listened to Kuno is a prime example. Right now though, both boys were faced with girls that almost every boy with hormones that theey knew were attraced to on some level so naturally their thought processers took a hit.

"I think I forgot my name," Aries whispered to his friend.

"I'll tell you yours if you tell me mine," Poseidon whispered back.

'This is no time to go into hormone induced insanity!" Draco hissed.

Neptune and Mars didn't waste any time in walking over to the two knights. Neptune eyes them warily while Mars tried to read their auras. Aries and Poseidonn were just trying not to say somethig stupid that would make the Senshi hate them.

"Just who are you guys?" Mars asked with a slight frown. She was suspicious that the two knights may have been enemies in disguise. It had happened before.

"Knight of Mars, Aries," the red knight replied.

"Knight of Neptune, Poseidon," the blue and white knight answered.

Draco quietly gave a sigh of relief. So far so good and both boys hadn't said anything tht would make them get branded as perverts or something. You'd think the way they talked about some things at school they would get called such much sooner.

"Really?!" Mars gasped in surprise. Aries nodded a reply.

"Then why are you here and not where the other monster is?" Neptune asked suspiciously.

"Uh...we had to contract a creature so we could access our power," Poseidon replied nervously. "We were just about to leave when you two showed up."

"Yeah, what he said," Aries noddded quickly. "Now let's get going!"

Racing over to Rammerhead, Aries quickly got onto his new friend's back. Trotting over to Sailor Mars, he held out a hand to her.

"This way will be faster," he reasoned.

Mars took her knights hand as he helped her onto Rammerhead's back. She gripped the knight tightly so she wouldn't fall off. It wasn't exactly like the fantasy of a knight to take her away on horseback but one out of two isn't bad. Poseidon had already gotten onto Wildstype and was helping Neptune get on as well.

"Let's go!" Poseidon called while pointing forward.

With a roar and a bleat, the four heroes were off.

--

The fight was not going well for Lunar. He had just been ejected through a solid wall and into the streets of Juuban. he learned pretty quickly that Deepstar had a near-godlike regenerative ability. Small wounds were easily healed in seconds and larger ones just took a little longeer. Worse was that if you cut off a large enough pice of him, it would grow into a new Deepstar. Since his armor was so thin to begin with, it was very easy to cut off a limb or hunk of flesh. Unfortunately, whenever he tried to strike a Deeepstar, it would position itself so that a limb would come off, therefore making yet another Deepstar. Right now, Lunar had to contend with twenty Deepstars!

"Just face it moon knight," Deepstar 17 crowed as all of them followed Lunar into the street. "You don't have the power to defeat me! You're better off just letting me take the girl's star beast back to my masters!"

"Over my dead body!" Lunar shoutd back.

"That can be arranged," Deepstar 5 laughed as they all prepared to attack.

With a battle cry, the Deepstars began their charge towards Lunar. It seemed that he was finally going to get that defeat that he often said would never happen. Gripping his sword again, Lunar prepared to fight with whatever he had. The guys were pretty strong, but they weren't Saffron.

Before Lunar could begin his battle though, he heard several gunshots before the front line of Deepstar was put the ground writhing in pain.

"What the-?" Lunar gaped.

His answer came with a beatial roar that cut through the air. Turning around, he saw the ram and tiger from before running towards him. The only difference now was that they both had a new colour scheme along with a knight and a Senshi riding on it's back. The red knight was pointing a gun at the mass of star beasts.

"Well I'lll be damned," Lunar laughed. "Just where the heck have you guys been?"

"Hey cut us some slack," Aries laughed as he dismounted Rammerhorn and brought Mars to the ground. "We just got on the job."

"No excuses," Lunar said in amusement. "As for punishment, you guys have to help me take down this clown. The problem is that he can regenrate like crazy and if a large enough pice is cut off, it will become a new monster."

"How long did it take you to learn that?" asked Poseidon as he looked at the struggling Deepstars. Lunar just glared at him through his helmet.

"Um," Sailor Mars interrupted. "I'd hate to get inbetween this male-bonding stuff but just how do you think we can beat this thing."

"Simple," Lunar replied. "If we can't cut him up, we'll just destry every bit of him so there's nothing left to regenerate."

"A good plan," Sailor Neptune nodded as she cast a worried gaze over to the recovering Deepstars."But we don't have the firepower to do that. If Sailor Moon or Saturn were here then maybe, but I don't think we'll be able to do that right now."

"Ahem," Aries coughed, catchign everyone's attention. "You Senshi may not have that power here, but I think I can handle it."

Stepping ahead of the assorted heroes/heroines, Aries pulled back the hammer of his gun, causing a compartment to slide out off the box part o his chosen weapon. Drawing a card from his belt, he placed it in the compartment before sliding it shut again.

"_Final Vent,_" a voice called. Rammerhead instantly reacted as he placed himself in front of Aries.

Rammerhead took a seat so that his back was facing Aries. In the centre of the star beast's back, a slot opened that was the perfect shape for the knight of Mars' gun. Sliding the weapon into place, it became locked. Rammerhead then began to change with this new connection. His choulders opened to reveal rail cannons as the top of his back opened to bring out a row of missiles. The armor of his legs retracted to reveal even more missiles while the tips of his horns began to point at the Deepstars.

"_Armageddon Shot!_" Aries called before pulling the trigger.

Rammerhead bellowed before he unleashed his payload of weaponry. Missiles, bullets, and lasers cut through the air and were aimed right at the Deepstars. The aquatic star beasts didn'tstand a chance as they were bombarded with the payload. Explosion after explosion sounded off until none of the Deepstars could be seen through the smoke and flames. Aries decided that it was enough and let go of the trigger. Needless to say thst everyone wa srendered speechless by the salvo. Mars and Neptune had only really seen their enemies use attacks like that. Poseidon and Lunar just thought it was cool. The smoke and flames quickly receeded and everyone was happy to see that all the deepstars had been destroyed. The proof was the glowing orb that remained from the original Deepstar. Surprisingly, there was no damage to the surrounding buildings. Just a few craters in the road and burnmarks on the sidewalk.

"Not bad," Aries laughed as he popped open his chamber again and slid in a new card.

"_Seal Vent._" was called before Rammerhead drew in the sphere of energy.

"Why did I come if all we needed was him?" asked Poseidon with a laugh.

Neptune and Mars just continued to blink at the display of firepower that they had just witnessed. It was times like this that they were glad that the knights were on their side. Lunar lookede away from his fellow knights and saw the shocked glances of the two Sailor Senshi.

"Uh...are you two okay?" he asked as he stepped closer.

"Um, yes." Sailro Mars nodded. "Just a little shocked."

"I suppose a salvo would do that," Lunar nodded. "Anyhow, I think it would be best if we got out of here. Who knows when the cops are going to arrive."

Neptune was going to protest on behalf of the girl that was attacked earlier but Lunar had already grabbed his fellow knights and leaped away via thee rooftops. Mars and Neptune knew that he was right, but they wanted to make sure that the girl was okay. Bth Senshi quickly entered the building and raced to where they saw the girl, but they quickly found that she was already gone. They were slightly concerned that someone working with the monster had gotten her, but Mars remebered that Lunar wasn't really concerned about her. Either he was an uncaring jerk, or he had already helped the girl and had gotten her away. She just hoped that it was the latter rather than the former.

--

Later, Kasumi was humming away while making dinner, making sure that she had enough to give Ranma an extra portion if he was hungry. She had heard the reports of another monster attack that was stopped by the Senshi and the knights. She was a little concerned for Nabiki's saftey, but she knew that Ranma would protect her. The sounds of the door opening and closing caught her attention before she stepped out of the kitchen to see who it was. She gasped slightly when she saw Ranm carrying a trembling Nabiki in his arms.

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped. "What happened?"

"Monster attack," Ranma frowned. "It did something to her but I managed to set it right. She hasn't let me go since she woke up. HAsn't said two words since she said thank-you either."

"I see," Kasumi nodded. "Let's get her up to her room. I'll save some dinner for her in case she gets hungry."

"Thanks Kasumi," Ranma nodded before he started his journey up the stairs.

"No Ranma," Kasumi spoke in a whisper. "Thank-you for keeping my family safe."

To Be Continued...

A/N: There is chapter five for everyone. I decided to add two knights this time. I know that Poseidon didn't get to do anything this chapter because I let that happen. It leaves an air of mystery for people who want to know what he's capable of. Anyhow, Nabik has been shocked to the core y this little episode, I mean, who wouldn't? How this will affeact her in the future is anyone's guess.


	6. Monkey Business

I do not own Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, or Kamen Rider Ryuki. Those belong to their respective creators and not me. Got it? Good. Let's get reading!

-Ten-Faced Paladin

Knights of the Silver Millennium

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Chapter 6: Monkey Business

It had been a long road of recovery for Nabiki. After so long of just being on the outside looking in on the chaos of Nerima, or being protected by one of the martial artists there (i.e. Ranma), it was something pretty terrifying to actually being attacked by a freaky monster which stole your soul for a brief time. The first few nights were terrible for the middle Tendo daughter. She couldn't sleep because of nightmares and she absolutely refused to come out of her room. It took Kasumi's own motherly touch to finally get Nabiki out and to the dinner table anyway. She had been jumpy at any small noise and she wouldn't stray far from Ranma or at least make sure he was within sight, much to Akane's displeasure, but she really couldn't do anything about it. Kasumi was very strict about that. Nabiki didn't need the extra stress. Soon, Nabiki had recovered and was actually preparing for school after a long absence. Luckily, her lackeys had been keeping things running and delivering the work she missed.

As she was getting ready, Nabiki was thinking over a few details. Being attacked like that was absolutely terrifying and she felt helpless and small. She hated that feeling. The last time she felt that was when her mother died and her father just broke. Everything was sprawling out of control until she took charge and started making sure that she and her sisters wouldn't go hungry or have to live on the streets. It was somewhat satisfying. She felt safe in control. Nothing happened without her having a hand in it or at least knowing about it so she could. Sure, lots of people hated her when she did some of her less then likable activities, but that was her burden to bear.

Then she was attacked.

Her entire world of security and control collapsed around her. She had been tricked and played for a fool by that...thing. Then it attacked her. She didn't know why, and she didn't know what it did. She was dropped into that black void of helplessness once again and she didn't know what to do. The next thing Nabiki remembered after that was seeing the white armor of the Celestial Knight Lunar that a number of the girls at school were going ga-ga over. He had rescued her from the monster and fixed whatever it did. He didn't say two words to her before he picked her up and hoisted her to a more open space away from the battle. He then vanished again, leaving her alone before Ranma came and began to take her home.

Nabiki frowned slightly to herself. _'It was either him or someone who hadn't heard of me. As connected as I am then the latter isn't very likely_.' 

Nabiki had no problems admitting that. Of all the people she knew in her life, Ranma was probably the only person who would rescue her from something like that. Despite all the crap she put him through during his stay he would still rescue her when she needed it.

she sighed inwardly as she fixed her hair. _'Well, not for a week or two anyway._' 

In the rest of the Tendo household, Ranma was chewing away at his breakfast with Draco coiled up on the table next to him. Kasumi was humming pleasantly while Soun was busy reading the paper. Genma was unconscious after Ranma knocked him out for trying to steal his food. Akane was across the table from Ranma with her eyes narrowed at him.

"What are you glaring at me for?" Ranma finally asked, getting fed up with Akane's glare.

"I'm trying to figure out what you did to my sister!" Akane frowned.

Akane's temper had been just as bad as ever, especially after Kat and Leo had lived with them for a while. The twins had showed her up in her two favorite fields: cooking and martial arts. She didn't take too kindly to it and promptly blamed Ranma for even letting them stay. She came to that odd conclusion after seeing him get along with the two of them so well.

"Are you still stewing on that?" Draco blinked. "That was weeks ago!"

"I'm not going to let this pervert get away with hurting my sister!" Akane growled.

"I didn't do anything to her!" Ranma shouted. "All I did was save her from that gray monster!"

"Yeah right!" Akane snorted. "That's the worst excuse yet!"

Apparently, Akane didn't believe that the Star Beasts were real. She believed in the Knights, the Senshi, and anything the Senshi fought, and all the crazy stuff that went on in Nerima, but she didn't seem to believe anything Ranma told her about Star Beasts since she had never seen one. She was even near some attack sites from Star Beasts but she had just assumed Ranma had gotten into another fight with some new rival.

Draco sighed as he shook his head. Akane seemed determined to prove Ranma was a pervert, even if it came to making up evidence in her mind. These fights happened regularly and right in front of Genma and Soun. Despite this, the two fathers were still determined to make Ranma marry her. This action caused the small dragon to question the sanity of the two several times.

This was the scene that Nabiki had walked into when she finally came downstairs. She sighed in agitation at seeing Ranma and Akane fighting yet again. Akane was yet again accusing Ranma of doing something wrong and Ranma's denials were going in one ear and right out the other. It reminded Nabiki of Kuno several times. Maybe him and Akane were destined for each other after all.

"Good Morning, Nabiki," Kasumi smiled pleasantly.

"Morning," Nabiki yawned.

She made her way over to the table and sat beside Akane before getting some breakfast. She started eating in her usual fashion as everyone else had their own morning rituals.

"How you feeling, Nabiki?" asked Ranma.

"Pretty good," Nabiki shrugged. "All things considered anyway."

"That's good to hear," Ranma smiled. "Wasn't the same without you."

Nabiki smiled slightly at the comments. It seemed that Ranma could say something without sticking his foot in his mouth every once in a while. In fact, Nabiki had been noticing that Ranma was slowly changing. He was starting to say nice things and he was beginning to mature. Sure, his foot sometimes went into his mouth as usual and he was ever the martial arts nut, but...he just seemed to take things seriously outside the martial arts. School apparently wasn't one of those things though, but his daily situations were. He seemed to begin to show annoyance and almost anger with a number of the people who keep fighting him, but was able to restrain himself. She had joked about it before, but maybe Draco actually was a good influence on Ranma.

"Stop flirting with my sister!" Akane cried loudly.

Ranma felt his temper boiling again and opened his mouth to send a retort. However, before he could get a word out he felt something wrap around his wrist. Looking down, he saw Draco ready to sink his teeth into Ranma's skin for the umpteenth time. He was also glaring pointedly at Ranma.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Ranma finished his breakfast at a rapid pace and stood up. Draco remained around his wrist to keep reminding him to hold his mouth in check.

"Whatever you say, Akane," Ranma sighed. "I'm going to get ready for school."

With that, everyone watched the pigtailed martial artist leave the room. Kasumi smiled at Ranma's growing maturity while Nabiki felt that her earlier notion of Draco being a good influence on Ranma was being proven right before her eyes. Akane on the other hand felt like she was being blown off and started to fume again. Soun just continued to read his paper while Genma remained unconscious.

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The schoolyard was as busy as ever as Ranma walked in. He half-expected to see Kuno charging in to fight him. In that case, it was understandably surprising when he was nowhere in sight. All he could see were gaggles of girls all mooning over something that they all found to be very interesting.

"RANMA!" someone shouted.

Expecting a fight, Ranma turned to see Hiroshi and Daisuke running towards him with stupid grins on their faces. Ranma relaxed his stance and walked over to his two friends.

"Hey, guys," he greeted. "Wassup?"

"You won't believe it!" Daisuke grinned. "We are the hottest thing since Boy Bands to the girls!"

"Huh?" Ranma blinked.

"It's true!" Hiroshi nodded furiously. "The girls are all giggling over posters of us in our...'school club clothes',"

"You mean when we're Kni...,"Ranma began, but found his mouth covered with the hands of his friends.

"Shhh!" Daisuke hissed. "Do you want to give away our secret?! If we get found out we'll get mobbed and unlike you, we can't roof hop!"

"Sure," Ranma nodded as he got his friends' hands away. "So...we're popular with the girls like the Sailor Senshi are with boys?"

"At least!" Hiroshi laughed. "This is like a dream come true!"

"Yeah," Ranma shrugged. "The only thing is that no one can know."

"Huh?" both boys gaped.

Pointing to the dragon design on his shirt, Ranma began to explain, "Well, our advisor mentioned once that the Knights weren't allowed to reveal their faces to anyone except their Queen or the one they planned to marry. Leo and Kat were exceptions because they were our allies."

"Oh cool," Hiroshi grinned. "It's like some kind of story!"

'_You don't know the half of it_,' Draco snickered to Ranma, who just barely managed to hold in a grin. If they thought that little fact was amusing, wait until they got the entire Silver Millennium story.

"Yeah," Daisuke agreed with his friend. "Well, we'd better get inside before the rest of the girls get here. I heard that almost all the girls are a fan of one of the Knights. It's almost like a war is brewing to me."

Things had gone a little silent at that notion. All three boys had gotten ideas in their heads about girls dressed for war all fighting each other to prove which Knights was best. They were even donned in colors that matched their Knight. It sent a shiver down their spines until Hiroshi asked a question that would remain on their minds for the rest of the day.

"So...which one of us do you think is the most popular?" he asked.

Daisuke and Ranma were silent as they contemplated that question.

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The day progressed without any major catastrophe and soon the students were just glad that the school was still standing and there wasn't any massive property damage for a change. Some of the students who were heading home decided to go to the arcade. Three of these students in particular were Akane, Yuka, and Sayuri.

"Oooh, I just can't get enough of these posters!" Yuka squealed as she held up a poster of the five known Knights, courtesy of Nabiki and her associates. Akane frowned at the declaration.

"I know what you mean," Sayuri giggled as she ogled her own poster of Zeus. "I hope more of them show up!"

"I don't!" Akane growled. "I don't see why all the girls are going all stupid about them."

"How about because they're brave?" asked Yuka. "How about because they've been saving people? How about because they are just so mysterious and those bodysuits just accent them the right way?"

"Yeah, Akane," Sayuri added. "Besides, I heard that a few of them were in the area where Nabiki got attacked. I bet they helped Ranma save her."

"Yeah, right!" Akane snorted. "There's no way that monsters are attacking! Ranma made that up to get away with molesting my sister! That pervert!"

Both Yuka and Sayuri sighed. Ever since the wedding disaster, Akane had snapped straight back to her 'all boys are perverts' persona. It was probably because the boys were even more determined to try and win her, even if they couldn't actually fight her anymore. Kuno was downright scary with some of his attempts. Both girls thought that Ranma really may have been the one for her, but Akane absolutely refused to let any guy get close to her. That usually led to abuse for Ranma whenever he tried to do something nice. Both Yuka and Sayuri knew that if Akane didn't change her attitude soon then Ranma was just going to get fed up and forget about her.

"Akane, just what do you hate so much about the Knights anyway?" asked Sayuri tiredly

"Okay, here's a list," Akane replied as she turned to face her friends. "Lunar is just a phony poser like Kuno, Kronos is a bully, Zeus looks like a flashy loser, Poseidon is useless, and Aries is a coward for using a gun!"

"Uhh..Akane? How do you know that?" asked Yuka with a raised eyebrow.

"I can tell from reading their moves!" Akane stated proudly. "I am a martial artist, remember?"

Both girls nodded just to keep her from going on a rant. Both girls really were Akane's friend, but they weren't blind to what was going on around Nerima. Akane may have been a martial artist but she was near the bottom of the barrel compared to Ranma and all his other rivals and fiancées. She couldn't even keep up with Leo and Kat when they were around. The only reason Akane could keep up with them was because they were either chasing her after she had been kidnapped, or they let her hit them because they didn't believe in hitting women. Well, Mousse came from a tribe of warrior women so it was easier for him, and Ranma seemed to be growing up slightly because he wasn't saying as much derogatory things about women. The others just cared too much or didn't see Akane as worth it.

The girls let the conversation die as they continued on. They were all looking forward to some fun with video games before they had to go home and begin on their homework.

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Inside the dark prison of the Shishin, Suzaku was all alone and watched the high school kids heading for the arcade. She smirked as she heard the arrogance in Akane's voice as she denied the existence of the Star Beasts.

"You don't believe in Star Beasts, eh?" she laughed. "Well then, let me make a believer out of you."

She snapped her fingers and several small lights appeared around the crystal before vanishing again. All she had to do now was wait.

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The three girls had turned the corner and spied the arcade down the road. As they began walking towards it, screams erupted from within the building. At first the three girls had no idea what was happening but that was soon answered when the people inside came running out like their lives depended on it. The reason of the widespread panic quickly followed.

It looked somewhat humanoid but it was vague. It resembled an ant more than anything. It was covered in gray armor that didn't stop except for where the joints were. It had four arms that no one could mistake for fakes. Its feet had two long toes with thick feet that resembled tree trunks. It had an insect abdomen sticking out of its butt. Its head caught the most attention, however. It looked most like an ant and had the mandibles to prove it. Its eyes were large and green with little hexagons making it up. A pair of antennae was sticking from its head that were waving wildly. The creature was also making snarling sounds mixed with clicks.

"What is that?!" Yuka cried.

"Eeew!" Sayuri screamed.

"I can take it!" Akane announced (over)confidently as she took a stance.

"What?" Yuka scremed. "Akane! Are you crazy!? You can't fight that!"

"I can so!" Akane shouted back. "It's nothing!"

The clicking noises from the monster increased before it seemed to triple. Yuka and Sayuri weren't sure what was going on before two more shadows covered them. Turning around, they felt their screams die in their throats. Two more of the ant monsters were standing behind them and were coming closer with their mandibles clicking madly. Seeing the monsters stepping closer made the terror jump to higher levels before their screams came back with a vengeance.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

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About a block away were three boys whose duty it was to fight monsters like those ants were heading to the arcade as well. They were also talking the whole way.

"I saw almost every girl had at least one poster of a single Knight," Hiroshi spoke put with a grin

"Class 2-C had a picture of Poseidon on their front door," Daisuke snickered. "Beat that!"

"Lunar was posted in the teachers' lounge," Ranma spoke up.

"Huh?!" Hiroshi and Diauske gaped. Lunar had older women gunning after him? They had to admit that a number of the female teachers in Furinkan were good looking. It was obviously some kind of rule that the principal had made up.

"I had to take Hinako there because she needed a nap," Ranma snickered. "She tuckered herself out after having a tantrum over a student hiding pocky that wouldn't share."

"When was this?" asked Daisuke. "We have the same class together."

"Lunch," Ranma replied. "You two were outside counting how many girls had either Poseidon or Aries posters."

Suddenly, the trio heard the screams and rushed over to check. There, they saw a trio of ant-like Star Beast and in their grasps was…

"Yuka!" Daisuke shouted.

"Sayuri!" Hiroshi yelled.

Ranma, upon seeing Akane trying (trying being the operative word here) to fight one of the Ant Star Beasts on her, just groaned and rolled his eyes, "Stupid Tomboy." He took his deck out of his pocket as Daisuke and Hiroshi did the same. Draco reappeared and slithered off Ranma's arm.

"I'm not gonna get caught this time," the minute dragon grumbled.

"Poseidon Knight Power…" Daisuke called, summoning his belt.

"Aries Knight Power…" Hiroshi called summoning his belt.

"Lunar Knight Power…" Ranma called summoning his belt.

"HENSHIN!" the three boys yelled together as they slid the decks into the belts. In their respective flashes of light they were now clad in their suits of armor.

"Let's go!" Lunar shouted, drawing his sword. Poseidon gripped his axe and Aries already had his gun in hand. The two latter Knights nodded in agreement to their 'leader' and went to the rescue.

The Ant Star Beasts holding Sayuri and Yuka were immediately shot in the back. Caught by surprise, they released their quarry and both girls fell to the ground. One of the Knights quickly approached them and helped the two girls up. It was Poseidon.

"You two okay?" he asked. The two girls didn't say anything. They just stared.

"A…Celestial…" Yuka began, not believing her eyes.

"Knight…" Sayuri added, her mouth hanging.

"Um, right," Poseidon said awkwardly. "You two better get out of here. Things are gonna get a bit ugly." He checked to see that the Star Beasts were still a bit preoccupied with Aries shooting at them. "Go on! Get!" The girls retreated hastily.

Akane threw her fist but when it made contact with the thing's chest, she quickly withdrew it. That had hurt! Of course, there was no way she was going to admit that so she decided to throw another punch but then Lunar appeared and kicked it away.

"Hey!" Akane shouted angrily, "That was mine!"

"Miss, I suggest you leave now," Lunar urged, but Akane was still stubborn as always.

"No way! No way am I gonna let a pervert like you hog all the glory! I'm going to beat this thing! Not you! I can prove I'm the best!"

Lunar rolled his eyes. He had no time to argue with Akane but she was needed to be rescued…again. The Star Beast clicked its mandibles and went on the attack again but at the time Lunar drew a card, opened up his rapier, slid the card inside, and pressed it closed again.

"_Sword Vent!_"

Without looking, Lunar caught his lance and stabbed it at the Ant Star Beast, sending it staggering back.

"Miss," Lunar growled, "I won't repeat myself again," He tried to control his anger, "Leave. Now."

Akane fumed again at Lunar. Just who the heck did this guy think he was? Just because he had a flashy outfit and weird cards he thought that he was better than her? She was about to argue some more, but the Ant Star Beast got back to his feet and charged at Lunar for a second attempt. Lunar figured that this would be a good enough distraction to start fighting with the Star Beast and not Akane. Swiftly turning around, he began to slash at the Ant Star Beast, making it cry out as it staggered back.

Aries had his hands full with the single Star Beast that he had picked out. He kept his eyes trained on it as he shot at it to keep it away from the girls. The Star Beast backed off a little before it hissed angrily at him. It went on the offensive as it went onto all sixes and began scrambling towards the Knight of Mars. Aries was slightly surprised but his reflexes were still good. Reaching to his belt, he drew a new card before slipping it into his gun chamber.

"_Shoot Vent!_"

Aries hefted his Ram Cannon at the Star Beast and took aim. Without even blinking, he fired a large artillery shell at the Star Beast. His aim was true as it made contact with the target and exploded, sending the Star Beast several feet away. It landed in a smoking heap, still alive, but not quite ready to fight again.

Over at the corner of a building, Yuka and Sayuri had just managed to get Akane to hide with them so they could watch the fight. Akane reluctantly agreed, but saw this as a chance to see their fighting styles and train to beat them and prove who the 'true' martial artist was.

"Oooooh," Yuka sighed dreamily. "This is like a dream come true. We were saved by Knights in shining armor!"

"Oh where can I get one of those?" Sayuri asked while looking at Aries. She wasn't talking about his cannon.

Akane just frowned slightly. What was it about these Knights that made the other girls turn to mush? Sure they looked pretty cool when they fought and their suits did accent them pretty well when she took the time to look.

'_What am I thinking?!_' Akane shouted to herself. '_I have to pay attention to how these costumed dorks fight. Not how good they look!_'

Poseidon's battle was moving at a rapid pace. The Ant Star Beast that he was fighting was proving to be clumsy compared to his quick reflexes. The Star Beast swung at Poseidon but missed by a mile. The Knight of Neptune rolled under the attack and stood back up while slashing at the Star Beast's back with his axe. While it was stumbling away, he drew a new card from his belt and slid it into the chamber in his axe before shutting it and putting it on his belt.

"_Strike Vent!_"

Poseidon's arms were quickly donned in large gauntlets styled after tiger claws. Taking his chance, he charged straight at the Star Beast again before slashing away at it. It gave off another hiss before Poseidon used a forward jab and pushed it back near it's smoking comrade.

Back with the girls, Yuka and Sayuri were still awestruck with seeing the Knights do battle against the Star Beasts. Akane was still somewhat miffed that they seemed so much better than her but she contented herself with just watching to see how their moves worked.

"Me-yow," Yuka purred.

"I know what you mean," Sayura agreed.

"He's not fighting fair!" Akane frowned. "He hit from behind!"

If any of the Knights or the girls had heard her, they didn't show it. The Knights just continued on fighting. Lunar gripped the handle of his lance as the Ant Star Beast he was fighting was getting back to its feet. Without waiting for it to get its senses back, Lunar charged forward with a jousting lunge and sent it sprawling again. It landed in between his two comrades. The three Celestial Knights grouped together a fair distance away from them.

"I think they've had just about enough," Poseidon commented, seeing the state of the three Star Beasts.

"Still, I guess it's high time to end it," Aries added, turning to Lunar.

"A good plan," Lunar nodded before reaching to his belt. "Gentlemen, draw!"

All three Knights grabbed a new card and brought them to their weapons. Poseidon slid his into his axe, Lunar placed his in his sword, and Aries loaded his into his gun.

"_Final Vent!_"

A roar, a neigh, and a bleat caught the observers' attention. All three were confused where the sounds had come from until the thundering of hooves and paws could be heard coming closer to the scene of the battle. Yuka, Sayuri, and Akane's eyes widened to the size of saucers as the witnessed Rammerhead, Wildstrype and Stallionstar charging towards their masters.

The three Star Beasts didn't let anything stop them as they heeded their masters' call. While they were approaching, the three Knights who had summoned them prepared themselves to unleash their final attacks.

Poseidon began first as he leaped up into the air with his claws ready to strike. Wildstrype likewise leaped into the air with his paw ready to strike. The Knight and Star Beast came together in the air and Wildstrype hit Poseidon. The force of the blow sent Poseidon forward to his targeted Ant Star Beast with his claws at the ready.

"_Raging Tiger Claw!_"

Poseidon flashed right past the Star Beast with his claws flashing for a moment before he skidded to a stop. The Ant Star Beast hissed before cuts could be witnessed appearing in its armor. Before the eyes of the shocked girls, the Ant Star Beast fell apart at the waist before exploding in a haze of fire.

"Beat that," Poseidon smirked.

Lunar took that as a challenge as he felt Stallionstar coming closer. When the white horse had come close enough, Lunar jumped straight up into the air before coming back down just as Stallionstar was under him. Landing comfortably on his back, Lunar readied his lance as his horse started picking up speed.

"_Meteor Joust!_"

The two partners became a white blur as they came closer to their opponent. The Ant Star Beast didn't have enough in it to dodge and the white blur collided into him and caused him to explode. Out of the haze came Lunar and Stallionstar as they came to a slow trot before stopping.

"Next?" Lunar dared Aries.

The Knight of Mars knew it was his turn as his Star Beast sat in front of him and revealed its numerous firearms that were aimed at the final Ant Star Beast. Attaching his gun to the indentation in Rammerhead's back, Aries prepared his assault.

"_Armageddon Shot!_"

A veritable storm of bullets and missiles came launching from the red and bronze Star Beast. The Ant Star Beast was pelted with the armaments, creating explosions which made the previous two seem somewhat tame. The barrage didn't last long though. After about a few seconds of shooting, Aries let go of the trigger of his gun and pull it out of Rammerhead. When the flames subsided, the last Ant Star Beast was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," Aries blinked. "Where are the cores?"

Poseidon and Lunar looked to the flames where their own Ant Star Beasts had stood and noticed that their red friend was right. Unlike other Star Beasts, whose cores would appear after their bodies were destroyed, the Ant Star Beasts they had destroyed did not yield one.

"You're right," Poseidon observed while scratching his head, "Shouldn't the cores appear after they go boom?"

Lunar was in deep thought. He would need to consult with Draco later. "Come on," he said to his comrades, "We're done here."

"Hold on!" the three Celestial Knights heard and turned their attention towards the three girls.

'_I thought they all went away_,' Lunar thought in irritation. He became increasingly irritated as he was seeing Aries and Poseidon dusting off their armor to face the girls. '_Idiots._' He then saw the girls and focused on Akane. She had a deep frown on her face. '_And here we go…_'

Yuka was the first to speak as she exclaimed, "That was totally awesome!"

"Can I have your autograph?" Sayuri said as she held up a pen and paper, "I'm Sayuri, by the way."

"I'm Yuka," Yuka introduced herself giddily.

"Sure," Poseidon said, liking the attention as he took the pen and paper and began to sign his Knight name. He then passed it over to Aries, "Here you go, pal." Aries signed his name and handed the paper and pen to Sayuri and she hugged it to her chest.

Akane and Lunar were facing off, glaring at one another. She pointed at him accusingly, "I know what you're trying to do! There's no use hiding!" Lunar tilted his head questioningly. She continued, "You're just a glory hog with a fancy outfit and fancy weapons and moves! You're not a real martial artist!"

Lunar was about to retort angrily, but composed himself. Doing so would only make her suspect him but this was Akane and she was known to have a thick-skull and a thinner grasp of reality these days. It was better to be safe rather than sorry though. He crossed his arms and listened quietly to her ridiculous speech as he prepared his rebuttal.

"And why do you need to wear a helmet? Are you ashamed or something?" Akane challenged, "Well, speak up!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lunar said cynically, "Were you saying something important? I think I must've tuned you out because of the unbearable screeching." Sayuri, Yuka, Aries and Poseidon backed away, knowing that Akane was going to explode.

Akane fumed and yelled as she threw her fist at him. He didn't even dodge as he allowed the fist to collide into his helmet. Akane immediately pulled her hand back and shook it in pain. That armor was hard!

'_Stupid tomboy_,' Lunar thought with a smirk. "Guys, let's go." Poseidon and Aries nodded as they followed their 'leader' and left the scene. Akane was fuming, yelling at them.

"You're not so tough! Without that armor you're nothing but posers! You hear me? Nothing!" She was still nursing her hand.

"She's right, you know," Aries whispered to Lunar. "Well, maybe except for you."

"Shouldn't you check on her?" Poseidon asked Lunar as well. "She is your fiancée."

Lunar snorted, "All I know is that I'm gonna get a hell of an earful when I get home."

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Ranma wasn't wrong either. When he got home Akane was already there nursing her bruised hand. Akane wasn't in the mood to talk since she had to be helped by a boy, but the fathers were more than willing to rant in her place. The second Ranma was in their sights they pounced at him.

"Boy! How dare you leave your fiancée alone to face those beasts?!" Genma bellowed.

"How could you put my little girl at risk like that!?" Soun added in his waterfall of tears.

As the resulting bellowing and crying came from the fathers, Kasumi looked up from where she was helping Akane tend to her swollen hand. The youngest Tendo had been in a huff ever since she came home and would constantly grumble about 'glory hogging knights' and the like. Kasumi instantly knew what she was talking about. Akane had met a few of the Knights and they had done something she couldn't. Akane only grumbled and fumed this much when she had been upstaged.

Kasumi almost frowned as she thought of how her baby sister was filling up with so much anger. It had been piling up since the brief time that the twins, Kat and Leo, had lived with them. The two of them were very good at things Akane prided herself in. Since they wouldn't take her temper tantrums, she couldn't get rid of her anger. They would even defend Ranma so the anger just kept piling up. With the Celestial Knights coming onto the scene and doing things even the martial artists might have trouble doing, Akane was just getting angrier and it was beginning to affect her to the point of becoming slightly irrational. She was looking for any kind of release, be it pounding Ranma, or...hitting something (or someone) else.

Ranma held in his own anger at his father and Soun's whining and bellowing about how he should have protected Akane continued.

"How could I even know she was attacked?" Ranma growled, keeping up his appearance of ignorance to the situation. If his father found out about his Knight abilities then he would sell him out in a heartbeat. "I wasn't even there!"

"You and Akane should always be together!" Genma bellowed back. "She's your fiancée!"

"I don't want to be around that pervert!" Akane shouted at the fathers, who feigned deafness at her cries.

Ranma growled while heaving a sigh. Why did he even try to argue back? The fathers never seemed to listen to him and Akane was always raging or throwing some kind of tantrum so she couldn't hear him either. Not a whole lot of people listened to him when he thought about it. Getting up, Ranma started heading to the door.

"Where are you going, boy?" Genma frowned. "We aren't done yet!"

"I know how it's going to go, Pop," Ranma sighed at the doorframe. "You and Mr. Tendo are going to harp on me about honor for a while and then start whining about uniting the schools. Then Akane and I will start fighting about it while you two assume we're the perfect couple. Then Akane will throw a fit over me calling her a name and she'll punt me across the district. I'd rather avoid that if I could."

Everyone in the room was feeling a little stunned at Ranma's words and was still stunned as he left the room. The pigtailed martial artist walked outside before leaping to the roof and heaving a calming breath. He looked up to the stars, sensing the number of hidden Star Beasts looking back down before asking his question.

"What is going on with me?" he asked. "I've never acted like that before."

"It's called maturity, Ranma," a new voice replied.

Ranma looked down to see Draco slithering up to him. How he got to the roof without help was anyone's guess.

"You're beginning to see just how silly all this nonsense about uniting the schools and such is," the small dragon explained. "My best guess is the responsibility of being a Knight and the experiences that go along with it are beginning to help you mature somewhat. That and a few words of wisdom from Leo, remember?"

"Hmm," Ranma sighed. Draco may have a point, but there was something else that he needed to talk to the little dragon about. "The Star Beasts me, Hiroshi, and Daisuke fought today didn't have cores when we destroyed them. What was with that?"

"Hmm," Draco pondered. "That's an easy question to answer. Those Star Beasts were Soljants. They don't have cores to begin with. Simply put, they are just an extension of the real Star Beast: the Soljant Queen."

"A Queen?" Ranma asked. "How many of those Soljants can she make?"

"Too many to be healthy for us," Draco shivered. "The good news is that she can only make so many of them."

"And just how many can she make?" Ranma asked, knowing that he wasn't going to like the answer.

"An army," Draco replied simply.

Ranma felt the air suddenly become cooler. The image of him and the other Knights having to face down an army of Soljants was not something he wanted in his mind at the moment. He had a feeling beforehand that the worst was yet to come. Now he was sure of it.

Being a Knight sucked some days.

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A new day had come and Ranma was on his way to school again. While he was walking on the fence, Akane was on the ground, silently ignoring him. Ranma had managed to keep his mouth shut during breakfast despite numerous attempts by Genma to get a rise out of him. Draco's little warnings about that were beginning to pay off. The tiny dragon was again with Ranma in the form of a dragon picture on his shirt.

Both of them came up the school gates, but before they could actually get inside, Hiroshi and Daisuke cut them off.

"Hey!" Akane frowned. "Let me through."

"I don't think that would be a good idea until we can explain a few things," Daisuke panted, showing that he had been running.

"What is it?" Ranma asked, feeling that something had been going on under his nose again.

"Well," Hiroshi began. "It's not so much for you Ranma than it is for Akane."

"Okay," Akane nodded. "What is it?"

"All the girls **really** hate you right now," Daisuke blurted out.

"What?!" Ranma and Akane gaped.

"Well, Yuka and Sayuri came in with the autographs of Celestial Knights Aries and Poseidon," Hiroshi explained, hiding his pride. "All the girls wanted to see it and hear how they had gotten it. Yuka and Sayuri told the **whole** story. Well, when it got to the point where Akane tried to pick a fight with Lunar, the girls started getting mad."

"Hey! He made fun of me!" Akane cried in her defense.

"But you insulted him first, right?" asked Daisuke. He didn't have to since he had been witness to the entire event, but he had to act dumb for the sake of appearances.

"But he stole my fight with that monster!" Akane cried again.

"That's no reason to insult the guy," Hiroshi grimaced. "He was just doing his job."

Akane was about to make an angry retort when the four students found themselves surrounded by a large group of girls with their own angry looks on their faces. Akane started getting a sinking feeling in her stomach. She didn't like the looks she was receiving from the group.

"Akane Tendo," a spokesperson called while stepping out of the masses. "We would like you to come with us."

Akane tried to say no but found herself grabbed by the arms and dragged off towards the school. Ranma, Hiroshi and Daisuke blinked as they watched her get taken away. She kept trying to shout and scream at them but they weren't listening to her. When the mob had gone inside the school, Daisuke turned to Ranma.

"Shouldn't you have tried to help her?" he asked. "She is your fiancée."

"She brought this on herself," Ranma sighed, shaking his head. "She has to grow up sometime."

Draco's head came out of the dragon picture he was posing as and said, "That girl has to know that actions come with consequences."

"Trifle not with angry fangirls," Hiroshi agreed.

"Well, we all should go and watch the 'slaughter'," Daisuke suggested, "Might be fun."

"To see the tomboy getting what's coming to her?" Ranma shrugged, "Yeah, it would be fun. Let's go, guys." Ranma ran up ahead, followed by his two friends/fellow Knights.

Akane was on top of a stage that had been erected for two reasons. One: was that she was going to be forced to explain her antagonism towards the Knights. And two: it was safer up there. There was a microphone in front of her and looking at her were the angry glares of nearly every girl in school. Akane didn't like this because this was a situation she couldn't fight her way out of. Boys were one thing but girls with no prior knowledge of martial arts were something else. She would blame this on Ranma, as usual, but currently she did not have that luxury.

Meanwhile, Ranma was explaining to Hiroshi and Daisuke of what Draco had told them and they were surprised. Hiroshi spoke up, "That would mean the Queen is gigantic, right?"

Daisuke shuddered at the mental image, "I wouldn't want to fight it alone."

"Try an entire army," Ranma supplied.

"Not helping, Ranma," Daisuke hissed, "I sure wish Leo and Kat were around. They could be a lot of help right now."

"They have their own mission too," Ranma stated firmly, "They can't help us even if they wanted to."

"And without them, the Beast Spirits would be running amuck," Hiroshi added. "Ranma, have you heard anything from them?"

Ranma shrugged and said, "Got a letter from them awhile back. Says they're doing fine right now."

Meanwhile, Akane was being yelled at by the mob of angry fangirls and was at a loss for words. She looked pleadingly at Yuka and Sayuri but then remembered they were the ones who started this mess. She felt a bit betrayed by her friends.

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Nabiki, of course, knew about the whole thing. She was replaying the incident in her head when Akane had to explain just why she had tried to hurt the Celestial Knight Lunar. When she tried saying that he was a glory hog that stole her fight with the monster, the fangirls didn't take it too well. Apparently the fangirls saw it as Lunar's responsibility to fight the monsters. Akane's punishment was to be shunned by almost every girl in school. The only girls who stuck by her side were Yuka and Sayuri, but Akane was feeling a little betrayed and was a little reluctant to talk to them. Nabiki just hoped that this would teach her sister to think before she acted.

At the moment Nabiki was sitting in her class while listening to her teacher continue his lecture. She already knew the subject since she had her lackeys make detailed notes and point out possible future subjects. She paid them well to keep her informed to the last detail. Not seeing any real need to pay attention at the moment, Nabiki began to let her mind drift. She began to think of happier times where she didn't have to be an Ice Queen to keep her family going; a time when her mother was still alive.

-**Flashback**-

_Nabiki was only four years old and playing out in the backyard. Kasumi was playing with her dolls and Akane was toddling around like children her age did. Nabiki herself was busy playing patty-cake with someone people thought was an imaginary friend. To Nabiki though, he was her best friend in the whole world._

_"Patty-cake, patty-cake, bakers man," she sang as she slapped the hands of her friend. "Bake me a cke as fast as you can."_

_"Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!" Kimiko Tendo called as she stepped into the open air. "Dinnertime!"_

_"Okay mama!" the three girls replied as they dropped what they were doing and headed for the house._

_Nabiki stiopped as her sisters went inside. She turned back to her friend and saw him sitting near the pond. A bright smile came across the little girl's face as she waved to him._

_"Bye-bye Armbuster!" she smiled. "I'll be back after dinner!"_

-**End Flashback**-

Nabiki sighed as she returned to the real world. She took a brief glance at the teacher's lesson and still found it to be something she already knew. Allowing herself to tune out again, she wondered just when the day would end.

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Inside their prison, the Shishin watched Furinkan High School. Suzaku was the only one showing interest while the other three males were having their doubts about their target.

"Suzaku," Seiryu spoke. "What you're planning is a risky move. There a number of things that could go wrong."

"True," Suzaku nodded. "but imagine the spoils if it works. A small army of new Star Beasts and a greater chance of finding one of the Saint Beasts."

"She has a point," Genbu nodded. "This is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to do! Just do a sweep and get what we want. The Knights and Senshi won't have a chance of stopping us this time!"

"People from Queen Beryl to the Witches 5 have said similar things before they were proven marvelously wrong," Byakko spoke up. "Do not repeat their mistake."

"Agreed," Seiryu nodded before turning to his female companion. "This is the only chance you'll have at a plan like this."

"One chance is all I'll need," Suzaku purred. "You boys just sit back and relax while I bring in a haul of new Star Beasts."

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"Are you sure this is a good idea, Usagi?" Ami asked uncertainly as she and her fellow Inners walked the streets of Nerima.

"Why not, Ami-chan?" asked Usagi as she lead the way. "I want to see Ran-chan and all we know is that he lives in this district. All we have to do is find him."

"Do you have any idea where we could find him?" Rei asked plainly, knowing that Usagi hadn't thought her little plan through.

"Uh..." Usagi stopped to think about it. She was silent for a few moments before sweatdropping. "Ah ha ha ha ha, I have no idea."

Despite knowing that was the case, the girls sweatdropped just the same. The girls weren't quite sure what the next step they could take would be, until Minako suddenly got a bright idea.

"Hey, school hasn't been let out that long so let's ask around at Furinkan High," she explained. "Hotaru mentioned he went to school around here and that's the closest high school. I'm sure that he goes there. We can ask around to see if anyone knows him."

"Wow," Makoto blinked. "That's actually a pretty good idea."

"It is," Ami agreed. "Furinkan High is pretty close to here. It shouldn't take long at all to get there."

"Yipee!" Usagi cheered. "I'm gonna get to see Ran-chan again!"

"You aren't the only one!" Makoto smiled. "I want to see what Sempai has learned since we saw each other."

What Makoto hadn't been so forward about was the fact that if he was willing to teach her, she and him could work out in a dojo. He would demonstrate all his new moves, with his rippling muscles, fine body, firm butt...

"Mako-chan!" Usagi shouted, snapping Makoto out of her daydream. "Daydreaming are we?"

"N-no!" Makoto denied with a blush. "Of course not!"

"She's dreaming about Ranma," Minako giggled. "Not that I can blame her. He is really hunky, isn't he?"

"Can't you keep the fantasies to yourself?" asked Raye. "He has enough girl problems as it is. We would just freak him out if you went boy crazy on him."

"Sorry," Minako frowned cutely.

"Well," Makoto began. "If we're going to Furinkan, then we'd better get moving. Who knows how many students are left."

"Right!" Usagi agreed. She then turned to the direction she was walking in and pointed forward. "Let's go!"

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Despite the school day finally being over, there were still lots of students left at Furinkan. They were all joining in on the activity of making the various fan clubs that were dedicated to the Knights. It was amazing since the boys and girls were making two sets of clubs for them. The girls had set up their clubs so they could pine after their mysterious heroes and coordinate their efforts in trying to find out who they were and snag them for a boyfriend. Obviously, a number of girls had no clue that their Knights were closer than they thought.

The boys, on the other hand, made their clubs as to have the Knights as their role models. To them, the Knights were men who would stand in the face of adversity and protect innocent people from danger and various monsters. The boys would discuss what they found to make the Knights worth being their role models and what made them so cool. They would also sit in and try to figure out just why the girls were going wild over them. It was their hopes that if they could figure it out then they might be able to get a girlfriend for themselves.

One who was profiting from this was none other than Nabiki. Representatives from all the clubs were going to her, asking for posters or pictures of the Knights for the various purposes of the clubs. Nabiki did not disappoint as she had a lot of the posters printed and ready for distribution, but no actual photos. However, she did have an idea where she could get some photos of Lunar. The only problem was trying to get him to admit it. That and she kind of owed him her life.

'_Oh well,_' she sighed inwardly as she took another order. '_I'll think of something._'

Meanwhile, Ranma was lounging in his classroom next to Hiroshi and Daisuke. Their room was being used by a number of boys who wanted to use it as their club room for their preferred Knight, The Knight of Saturn, Kronos. It didn't really bother Hiroshi or Daisuke, since they didn't care what the boys thought of them. Ranma didn't care either way. He was actually finding it funny that they were talking about Ryoga so highly. He just didn't want to hear what people were saying about his Lunar persona.

When he thought about it, he didn't see much of Ryoga or Mousse after Kat and Leo had left. They didn't even come to challenge him or anything. Maybe they were taking a vacation for a change or training their Knight abilities.

Ranma really didn't want to think about it at the moment. The issue of the Soljants and their Queen was still stuck on his mind. He wasn't used to fighting opponents that were huge. One of the few experiences that he had was with the Yamato-no-Orochi when they had to get the moss off of it to save Shinnosuke from death. If the Soljant Queen was any bigger, then he was going to need help. Ryoga and Mousse would definitely be an asset in that fight. Hiroshi and Daisuke would have to rely on their Knight abilities to help them survive.

Some days it REALLY sucked to be one of the Knights.

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Ryoga huffed as he walked down the streets of Nerima. he had been travelling for days, trying to find Ranma so he could challenge him. Of course, Ryoga thought that he was somewhere in Italy since the last thing he had seen was a bunch of bulls running at him which went to explain why he was haggard.

"Damn it," he growled. "Just where are you Ranma?"

"Hey there!" a new voice called.

Ryoga blinked before he turned to face who had called. He found himself looking at a group of five girls that he could have sworn he recognized, but couldn't recall for the life of him. Two of them were blondes, but one of them had her hair done up in two ponytails. The third girl had short blue hair while the tallest had brown hair done up in a single ponytail. The last girl had long black hair that was left untied.

"Wow," Ryoga blinked. "A Japanese-speaking person all the way out here in Italy. Boy, am I lucky."

The girls walked up to Ryoga while the Lost Boy was examining them. The blonde with the ponytails stepped forward with a small smile on her face.

"Hey there," she smiled. "We're looking for Furinkan High. Do you know where it is?"

"Uh," Ryoga blinked. He scratched his head for a moment as he tried to think of an answer. Not many people asked him for directions and he really didn't want to get them wrong and inconvenience these nice girls. "Well, it's in the Nerima district of Japan."

"Huh?" blinked the black-haired girl. "But we know that. We're in Nerima right now."

"We are?" Ryoga blinked. "You mean this isn't Italy?"

"No," the brunette replied. "This is Nerima."

"Oh," Ryoga blinked. He then shook his head. "Well, all I really know is that it's one of the taller buildings. Kind of official looking you know? I think it has a sign out front too. It's hard to miss sometimes."

"I see," the blunette nodded. She then smiled in a demure, yet bright way. "Thank you for your help."

The girls began to continue walking past Ryoga. The Lost Boy thought about it for a moment before he turned to see them walking away. Quickly making a decision about his next course of action, he dashed to catch up with the girls before he lost them and got lost himself.

"Wait!" he called, getting the girls to turn around. He came to a stop before his nervousness started coming up as he began poking his fingers together. "Um...do...do you think...that I could come with you? I'm looking for Furinkan High too."

"Sure!" the ponytailed blonde smiled. "The more the merrier! Follow us!"

Ryoga nodded shyly as he kept the girls firmly in his sights. He didn't want to lose them and end up lost again. He's had that happen enough to last him a lifetime.

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Mousse had just finished fastening the delivery box to his bike at the Cat Cafe. They had just gotten an order for a large bowl of ramen to be delivered to Furinkan High. Since Shampoo was off trying to find Ranma so she could try to convince him to take her out on a date, it was up to the myopic hidden-weapons master to take the order to the person who had ordered it.

"Curse you, Saotome," he muttered. "Even if we are Knights, I shall not give up my quest to marry Shampoo!"

"Quit stalling, boy!" Cologne shouted from inside the cafe. "You have a delivery to make!"

Mousse growled as he mounted his bicycle. He knew the old ghoul would have seen him if he was still long enough. Leaping onto his bike, he took off for the high school. He knew the way well enough. He had gone there enough times trying to fight Ranma or following Shampoo who was trying to woo Ranma.

Mousse grumbled at the thought that Shampoo desired Ranma more than him. He just couldn't understand why Shampoo wanted Ranma so badly. Sure, there was the whole Kiss of Marriage law, but Shampoo was going above and beyond most methods the other Amazon women used to catch wayward husbands. It may have something to do with defeating the dragon prince Herb and the phoenix god Saffron, but Mousse would have guessed that other Amazons would have given up by now.

Even though Mousse couldn't imagine why Ranma didn't want Shampoo, he had to admit that his rival was tough. To be able to defeat his opponents like the Musk prince and Phoenix leader was quite the accomplishment. Being able to get through the numerous tricks that the other fiancées or rivals used to try and marry or kill him (even if luck was a major factor) was something that the myopic boy could respect. Mousse may not have gotten along with Ranma most of the time, but he respected the pigtailed martial artist's abilities. He was an all right guy when Mousse took the time to think about it. When Mousse had become a Knight, he decided that claiming Shampoo from Saotome could wait. Well, unless there was a prime opportunity. These Star Beasts that Draco had spoke off sounded incredibly dangerous.

As Mousse continued pedaling, he saw Furinkan High appearing in the distance. There was something odd about it when Mousse got a good look at it. He stopped to check his glasses and put them back on as he peered at the building. He could see a dark cloud beginning to appear over the school.

"How weird," he commented before going on his way.

Mousse couldn't help but feel that something big was going to happen.

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Within their prison, the Shishin were keeping their eyes glued on the crystal which sat in thee centre of the room. Suzaku could be heard snickering as she stood up from her throne.

"Now it begins!" she laughed loudly.

A bright light appeared into the crystal before it vanished again.

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"SCREEEEEE!" a high pitch scream echoed through the air.

Ranma was immediately out of his desk and at the window to see what had made the sound. Hiroshi and Daisuke were right behind him, wanting to see what was happening. The rest of the students were also heading to thee window to see what was happening. When they did get a good look at what was happening, they immediately wished that they hadn't.

It appeared to be a giant insect covered in dark gray armor. It had six long legs which ended with sharp tips that were leaving gouges in the ground. It had a large abdomen that had spikes jutting out of it. The head of the creature was similar to an ant, but it had deep green eyes and an emerald imbedded in-between those eyes. The most terrifying thing about it though, was the fact that it was currently walking right toward the school.

"The Soljant Queen," Hiroshi spoke under his breath.

"Yeah," Daisuke nodded. "It _is_ big."

"Quit talking and come on!" Ranma frowned as he and his two friends darted out of the classroom.

It was time for the Celestial Knights to make their appearance at Furinkan High.

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"What was that?!" cried Usagi in fear.

"It was this way!" Ryoga shouted before he ran in the direction of the sound.

"Ryoga! Wait!" Minako cried as she tried to follow him. Unfortunately, when Ryoga went around a corner, Minako lost him. Even in the midst of an emergency, Ryoga's sense of direction had gotten him lost yet again.

"Where'd he go?" asked Rei as she and the others caught up the the second blonde of their group.

"I don't know," Minako blinked. "He just vanished."

"I think whatever made that screech is more important at the moment," Ami spoke up. "We should try to see what made it."

"Ami's right guys!" Makoto agreed. "We can find Ryoga later. This might be one of those Star Beasts causing trouble again!"

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Ranma, Hiroshi and Daisuke found a quiet place with no one around so they could transform. They checked to see the Soljant Queen approaching the school and with grim determination they removed their card cases from their pockets.

"Ready, guys?" Ranma asked.

"Ready when you are," Hiroshi replied.

"Yeah, what he said," Daisuke nodded.

"Lunar Knight Power…"

"Aries Knight Power…"

"Poseidon Knight Power…"

Their belts were summoned around their waists as they prepared.

"HENSHIN!" they called out as one before sliding in their card cases. Bright lights erupted from their belts and then faded to reveal the trio of Celestial Knights.

Lunar's chest began to glow before Draco flung himself onto the ground. He turned to face the three Knights in front of him.

"I'll keep an eye on the students," He spoke. "You guys go do your thing!"

"Right! Let's go!" Lunar commanded as he led his comrades towards the big Star Beast. They didn't notice, however, that they had been seen. Nabiki was only there to collect a debt from someone when she saw Ranma, Hiroshi and Daisuke transform. It just confirmed her suspicion since that incident.

'_I'm gonna be rich!_' she thought giddily to herself.

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"Woah!" Mousse cried as he finally got a good look at the Soljant Queen. "Holy cow! Where did that thing come from?"

"WHERE THE HELL AM I!?" a new voice roared.

"Ryoga?" Mousse blinked as he tried to spot his fellow martial artist. He didn't have to wait long as a public restroom wall exploded and the lost boy cane charging out. He looked around and noticed Mousse staring at him.

"Mousse!" he cried, dashing over to the Chinese boy. "I think there's a giant Star Beast somewhere around here!"

"I know," Mousse nodded. "We can see it from here."

Mousse pointed over to Furinkan High and Ryoga followed the direction. His jaw dropped as he saw the gray mass of the Soljant Queen treading closer.

"Woah!" he gaped. He then turned back to Mousse. "I think we know what we need to do!"

"Are you two going to chat or transform and help us fight or what?" asked a new voice.

Both boys turned to a wall which was next to them and found Celestial Knights Lunar, Aries, and Poseidon standing on the top.

"Well, we _were_ going to do that before a Knight of the Moon decided to interrupt us," Mousse grumbled as he drew his deck and dismounted.

"Right," Ryoga nodded as he grabbed his deck.

"Zeus Knight Power..."

"Kronos Knight Power!..."

The familiar silver belts appeared around their wasits, waiting to complete the transformation so that they could take their Knight personas.

"HENSHIN!" they both called before snapping the decks into place.

Tin flashes of green and purple light flared before Celestial Knights Zeus and Kronos were standing where Mousse and Ryoga were.

"Now let's go!" Lunar sighed.

The other Knights nodded in agreement before they leaped towards the battle. It was definitely going to be one to remember.

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The students of Furinkan were getting pretty scared as they watched the Soljant Queen striding towards them. It was a very intimidating sight, and definitely not one for people who were afraid of insects. Three people had fainted already/

"SKREEEEEEE!" The Soljant Queen screeched as it closed in on its prey. A number of students screamed in fear.

"Halt!" a masculine voice roared, causing the Queen to stop in its tracks. The students turned to the source of the voice while the Queen had to turn around to do it.

All the students were shocked to see five armored figures in different colored armor standing at the front gate with their weapons draws. Their line started with the purple one then continued in the order of blue, white, red, and green.

"We shall not permit you to advance any further, corrupted one!" Lunar shouted, glad that Kuno's rants were being put to good use for a change. No one would even think that Ranma Saotome would speak like that.

"Oh?" the clicking voice of the Soljant Queen snorted, surprising everyone. "And who do you think you are to stop me?"

"I'll tell you," Lunar snickered. "I am the warrior of the shining kingdom, Celestial Knight Lunar!" He finished by pointing his sword at the Star Beast.

"Warrior of the immortal fires, Celestial Knight Aries!" he struck a pose while pointing his gun.

"Warrior of the endless oceans, Celestial Knight Poseidon!" the Knight of Neptune finished by taking a slight crouching pose while raising his axe.

"Warrior of the silent darkness, Celestial Knight Kronos!" he slashed his scythe in an X formation.

"Warrior of the raging thunder, Celestial Knight Zeus!" he took a stance familiar to a boxer as he raised his shield.

"We are the Celestial Knights!" Lunar roared. "It is our sworn duty to fight evil in the name of honor and justice. By the code of the Royal Knights…."

"We will destroy you!" the all finished, pointing their weapons.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" came a thunderous cry in response. However, it wasn't the Soljant Queen. She was busy trying to get her hearing back after that certain cry. No, it was the girls of Furinkan who gave off the united squeal.

"Oh my God! They're here!"

"I must be dreaming!"

"Where's my camera?"

"They're so hunky!"

"Now _that's_ an entrance," Poseidon grinned under his helmet.

"Well, Leo did have a habit of quoting a speech and so did the Senshi," Aries added.

"I almost thought it sounded stupid," Zeus said, adding in his own opinion, "In a good way, of course."

"Whatever," Kronos grunted. "Let's squash this bug!"

"First thing you said all day that I can agree with," Lunar nodded before he set his sights on the massive Star Beasts. "Celestial Knights, CHARGE!"

With united cry for battle, the 5 Knights dashed towards their enemy.

The Sojant Quen wasn't about to take this attack lying down. Acting quickly, she turned her abdomen towards the Knights and began concentrating her energy. Green bolts of energy rippled through her body before her abdomen opened to reveal a large organic chamber. Inside were numerous large eggs.

"Are those…?" began Zeus.

"Holy crap!" cried Aries.

"To battle, my children!" the Soljant Queen cried.

The eggs began to quiver and shake before they burst, revealing fully grown Soljants, looking ready for a fight. There were enough of them to fill the schoolyard. They all gave a united screech before charging at the Knights with their arms raised.

"I got this!" Aries snickered as he drew a card and slid it into his gun. "_Shoot Vent!_"

Aries' Ram Cannon appeared in his hands as he took aim at the army of Soljants in front of him and the other Knights. He took careful aim while his comrades stuck to the sides so they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

"Fire in the hole!" Aries cried before he fired.

The artillery shell was launched through the air and straight at the advancing Soljants. The resulting explosion sent several Soljants flying from the impact, and made a few explode on their own. The minions were confused by the sudden explosions.

"Let's go guys!" Lunar called.

The other four Knights raced forward with their leader towards the recovering army of Soljants. They knew that this battle was not going to be won easily.

"Sword Vent!"

"Strike Vent!"

Lunar, armed with his lance, and Poseidon, armed with his claws, charged at several Soljants coming straight at them. The Moon Knight started to swing his lance, slamming them away before running them through. Using the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, he struck several Soljants at once, killing them. Poseidon was going wild, like a tiger, as he slashed wildly with his claws, tearing the Soljants apart. It was a bit unnerving to see him let go and massacre them but he was doing it to protect the school.

"_Strike Vent!_"

Zeus ducked under a swipe before going into a reverse roundhouse, smashing a Soljant away. He then threw his whip, lashing at the Soljants coming at him. He even managed to behead the Soljants surrounding him by using his whip. Apparently, the length of his whip was sharp to cut through their necks.

"_Add Vent!_"

"BWEEEEEE!!!" Boarbomder cried as it ran over several Soljants, flattening them to the ground as Kronos was there to decapitate or dismember them with his scythe. He threw his fists, smashing holes into their chests with his enhanced phenomenal strength before Boarbomber impaled and gorged Soljants on its tusks.

The 5 Knights were then forced back to back. No matter how many they destroyed, more of them kept coming. The Soljant Queen was keeping up the supply of her 'children' to destroy the Knights. She may not be fighting them with overwhelming power, but overwhelming numbers was good enough. Sooner or later, the Knights would exhaust themselves and then…they would die!

"Okay, not good!" Aries said as he shot at the Soljants.

"We need help! Why did Mimic and Draco have to go!?" Poseidon cried out as his claws slashed through a Soljant.

"Stop whining!" Zeus growled. "We can handle it!"

"But for how long?" Kronos asked. "If we can't get to the Queen, we can't beat these things and there are just too many of them."

"Fight anyway!" Lunar said firmly. He had written back to both Advent Knight twins, promising he would see them again and he would see them again. It was a promise between honorable warriors.

Meanwhile, Nabiki was hiding in a bush with a camera, taking pictures of the fight despite the danger. After finding out the Knights' secret identities, she thought it may be profitable to take some pictures of the battle and then sell them. She did not notice a Soljant coming up behind her. When she heard the mandibles clicking, her heartbeat quickened and she froze. Her face paled. She turned and saw it hovering over her. She then screamed.

The Knights heard Nabiki's scream, which Lunar recognized, "Nabiki!" She was in danger but with the horde of Soljant's in their way, they could not get to her in time! Lunar leapt over the Soljants but then a few leapt up and grabbed him. He struggled against them as the other Knights fought through the horde to get to their leader.

Nabiki did not know what to do. '_Am I gonna die here? Oh, no! Somebody…anybody…help me, please!_' The Soljant struck down with its claws but then a fast blur got in its way and grabbed Nabiki before leaping away in a flash. The Soljant sent bush leaves flying but looked confused as its target had just vanished.

"NABIKI!" Lunar cried in shock. He didn't get time to move before more Soljant jumped him. He fought back as hard as he could, but the odds weren't helping.

"_Jupiter Supreme Thunder Crash!_" a new voice cried.

Thunderbolts rained down from the sky and fried a number of the Soljants. Not all of them, but enough to give the Knights some breathing space. They all looked up to see five familiar-looking girls wearing fukus on the top of the school.

"You boys looked like you needed some help," the odango-haired leader smiled.

"Sure could, Sailor Moon," Lunar grinned. "We've got a real infestation!"

"We can squash them!" Sailor Venus smiled.

"After all...," Sailor Mars grinned.

"We pride ourselves as exterminators," Sailor Jupiter finished.

"We won't let a single one hurt these innocent people!" nodded Sailor Mercury.

"For even attempting such a crime, in the name of the Moon," Sailor Moon began.

"We will punish you!" the gathered Senshi finished.

"YAHOO!" the gathered boys of Furinkan cheered as the girls of their dreams leaped into the fray. It was a good day to be a student at Furinkan.

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Meanwhile, Nabiki felt herself being carried away by something big before being gently placed on the ground behind the school. She could still hear the sounds of battle as the Knights and Senshi did battle with the Soljant Queen and her minions. All of that took second place however as she was looking at the Star Beast which had saved her.

It was a gorilla, which was obvious. It was bulky with long arms which were muscle bound as it was hunched over and dragging the knuckles of those arms. The forearms made it look like it was wearing gauntlets. The rest of the armor was covering every inch of him and his face was gorilla-like with pure white eyes. As Nabiki took in the image of this Star Beast, she felt stirring echoes in her mind. It took a moment for her to finally speak.

"...A...Armbuster?" she asked timidly.

The gray gorilla nodded. He then slowly raised his arm so not to scare Nabiki and showed her his palm. The middle Tendo daughter like wise raised her own and the two pressed their palms together. Nabiki's hand was small against the massive hand that the Monkey Star Beast, Armbuster owned.

"You've grown," Nabiki smiled. Armbuster nodded with a look which said 'so have you'.

Nabiki was beginning to feel warmth in her chest. After her attack, Nabiki began experiencing fear again. Something that she wasn't used to. Now, seeing this face from her childhood which had ended for too soon, she felt the loneliness which she'd ignored beginning to seep away. She then hugged the simian Star Beast.

"I've missed you," she said, crying. The Star Beast gently hugged the girl back, happy to be with his old friend. They then separated.

Draco, Ranma's small dragon friend, was in the back of the school too. He had decided to hide someplace safe until the fighting ceased. That was when he came upon Armbuster and Nabiki. At first he though the Star Beast was attacking the girl but when he saw the two hug, he realized that this thing was not hostile. Draco's eyes then widened when he saw a mark glowing above the girl's heart.

"Another Knight!" he said quickly before crawling towards the two. Both turned to see him as they heard his voice.

"Draco?" Nabiki blinked at the diminutive dragon, "What are you doing back here?"

"To welcome you, Nabiki Tendo, into the ranks of the Celestial Knights!"

"Say what!?" Nabiki said, shocked. Did she hear right? This couldn't happen to her! It was the sort of thing that happened to Ranma, not her!

Draco then summoned up a brown rectangular case and handed it to the girl. Nabiki stared at it. "There's a Contract card inside to bond with a Star Beast and I think your monkey friend here is just perfect."

Armbuster grunted.

Nabiki took out the card and inspected it before she held it out in front of her. A bright light shone from it and bathed Armbuster, changing him before her eyes. Armbuster's gauntlets turned to a deep brown while his forearms turned silver. His chest became brown with silver highlights as did his legs. His eyes turned a deep blue while his head turned brown save for his face, which became silver. Nabiki looked to the card she held in her hand and saw an image of Armbuster with his name on it as well. Looking to the brown case in her hands, she slipped the card in. In a flash, a gold monkey image over the symbol of Earth appeared on the cover.

"I think you'd better get going," Draco commented. "The others are going to need all the help they can get."

"Nnn," Nabiki sighed, knowing Draco was right, but feeling stupid for what she was about to do. "Gaia Knight Power!"

A silver belt appeared around her waist with the slot waiting for her deck, "Henshin!"

Nabiki snapped the deck into place and was engulfed by light.

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The battle was hitting somewhat of a standstill. With the Senshi lending a hand, the waves of Soljants were much more manageable. Unfortunately, the Soljant Queen was safe and sound as she kept pumping out more and more Soljants.

"Cripes!" Aries cried as he shot another Soljant. "I thought there was a limit to how many she can make!"

"I think it's because we keep destroying them that the Queen is able to replace them," Mercury commented before freezing a number of Soljants. "She has a certain capacity and can never fill it if we keep destroying the Soljants."

"Waagh!" Moon cried as she dodged an attack from another Soljant. "Tuxedo Kamen, where are you?"

"He's not here," a new female voice called. "Will I do?"

A large shadow fell across the battle from the top of the school which belonged to a rather large ape. Sitting on Armbuster's shoulder almost like they were lounging was a brand new Celestial Knight. This Knight was obviously female judging from the curves that her bodysuit revealed. Her armor was mainly brown with a silver trim. The chestplate had a silver trim which looked very elegant. Her arms had brown gauntlets which went up her arms almost like gloves since they were hugging her arms so tightly. Her wrists had silver studded bracelets which matched the ones on her boots. Her helmet was mainly brown with a bit of silver that looked almost like hair sticking up from the sides. Her helmet had mouth guard which was silver with a black visor and a sapphire embedded in the forehead. On her back was a sizable hammer which was flat on the front, but had two hands clasped together on the back.

"Who is that?" asked Mars incredulously.

"Beast me," Kronos shrugged before he slammed his fist into a Soljant's face.

"Great," Ranma muttered as he sliced another Soljant. "Another mallet-happy tomboy."

"Better learn to keep your foot out of your mouth, Lunar," the new Knight teased from her position. "And for the record my name is Gaia, not 'mallet-happy tomboy'."

Lunar froze at the comment as he looked at the brown Knight. He had heard her voice before and Lunar knew exactly where. The only problem was overcoming the sheer amount of shock that was invading his mind at such a subject.

"Let's go, Armbuster," Gaia ordered while her ape gave a grunt and a nod.

Armbuster leaped off the top of the building and dropped to the ground inches from the Soljant Queen. The dust from the impact was kicked up and Gaia took advantage of it almost immediately. Reaching to her belt, she slipped out a card which had a different hammer depicted on it. The hands on her current weapon snapped open before she slipped the card inside and closed them again.

"_Strike Vent!_" the weapon called.

Gaia reached up and clasped the handle of a double-headed hammer which was brown and silver. She looked to the Soljant Queen and leaped off Armbuster's shoulder towards her opponent. The Soljant Queen had no time to move before the heavy weapon came crashing down on her head.

"SKREEEEEE!!" the Queen shrieked in pain as the attack landed.

The Soljants immediately stiffened as they heard the scream of their ruler. As one, they immediately turned to the one who had attacked their Queen and screeched in outrage. Their march turned away from destroying the Knights and Senshi to just destroying the Knight who had just attacked their Queen.

"Stop them!" Lunar cried as he and the other Knights charged to fight the Soljants again.

"You heard the man!" Jupiter grinned as she and the other Senshi raced in to help.

Gaia either ignored the approaching insects or was too busy fighting the Queen to notice. Armbuster was beginning to take an active role as he went about grappling with the Soljant Queen to try and keep her abdomen shut so she couldn't send out more Soljants. Gaia kept on pounding away at the Queen's head as it tried to use its legs and pinchers to cut the female Knight in two.

"Woah!" Gaia cried as she leaped back to avoid being pierced by a leg. "Okay, better do something about that."

She reached to her belt a second time and drew another card. This one depicted Armbuster hovering over a target as if he was falling. Opening the slot in her initial hammer, Gaia slipped the card inside.

"_Drop Vent!_" the scanner cried.

Armbuster gave off a simian shriek before leaping straight up into the air. He hovered for a minute before coming back down like two tons of bricks. He crashed hard onto the Soljant Queen's abdomen and crushed it under his sheer weight. The Queen screeched in pain and outrage as her means of making soldiers was now gone. Gaia smirked underneath her helmet as she drew a third card. This one was depicting her monkey emblem with brown surrounding out.

"Yah!" Lunar growled as he used a downward slash to destroy a Soljant. He looked to see the Soljant Queen's crushed abdomen and grinned. No more Soljants would be able to come out of that thing for a while. With that in mind, he drew a card which had his horse symbol surrounded by white.

"Alright!" Poseidon grinned as he watched Armbuster smash the Queen a good blow. He gripped his newly drawn card which had his tiger symbol on it with light blue surrounding it.

"About time someone did it," Zeus grumbled before drawing a card with his rat symbol surrounded by green.

"Finally!" Kronos sighed as he watched the Queen get dealt crippling damage. He was growing tired of the fight as he drew a card depicting his boar symbol surrounded by purple.

"Time to end this!" Aries snapped while drawing a card which had his ram symbol surrounded by red on it.

"_Final Vent!_" was the united cry of the Knights' scanners. The air became filled with animalistic noises as the Knights' contracted Star Beasts came to unleash their ultimate attacks.

"_Meteor Joust!_" Lunar cried as he and Stallionstar ripped through a line of Soljants, making them explode on contact.

"_Tusk Strike!_" Kronos bellowed as he held his naginata while slicing through Soljants as Boarbomber slammed them to him with his tusks.

"_Storm Spin!_" Zeus cried as he held his whip out before Scavenger sent his spinning like a top. Every Soljant he touched was shredded before exploding.

"_Armageddon Shot!_" Aries roared before he pulled the trigger to his gun which was equipped to the fully armed Rammerhead. Missiles and bullets flew as numerous Soljants were destroyed by the assault.

"_Raging Tiger Claw!_" Poseidon roared as Wildstrype launched him through the air. The Knight of Neptune flashed right past several Soljants before coming to a stop. His arms had been in a blur before stopping. The Soljants themselves likewise stopped moving before they immediately fell apart. They exploded shortly afterwards.

Armbuster charged at the Soljant Queen and gripped it around the middle while holding it up. Gaia leaped straight up into the air and met the apex of her jump several feet above both Star Beasts. She looked down and reared back her hammer. Energy raced into it which made the head several times bigger. She started coming back down, aiming to bash the Queen's head in.

"_Ape Apocalypse!_" she cried before bringing the enlarged hammer down on the Queen's head. The body was slammed into the dirt as Armbuster let go. The Queen let out one last screech before she too exploded in a ball of fire.

The smoke and dust began to clear as the last Soljant was destroyed. The Senshi and Students looked on in amazement at not only the power the Knights wielded, but also the abilities of the newest Knight. The smoke cleared around her and the orb of energy which was the Soljant Queen's power was hovering in the middle of a blackened crater. Gaia acted quickly and drew a new card which depicted a seal and slid it into the hammer on her back.

"_Seal Vent!_" was what the hammer called before Armbuster started beating his chest as he drew the orb into his body.

All was silent as the Senshi and Knights took a moment to catch her breath. Gaia found that her hands were shaking from the adrenaline that was running though her system.

"That was totally awesome!" a student cheered from his viewing post on one of the balconies of Furinkan. The other students got their wits back and began cheering loud and long. A number of the students were also coming out the front doors to congratulate the Knights and Senshi on their latest victory. Lunar just shook his head and was about to turn and leave before he felt someone grip hi shoulder. He turned to see Gaia looking at him. She leaned in close and began whispering in his ear.

"Any money we make from this appearance, I'll take off your debt if you participate, Saotome," she spoke softly, which made Lunar's eyes widen in shock. There was no doubt about it now. That was definitely Nabiki underneath that brown armor.

"Excuse me!" called a hopeful student who Gaia recognized as one of her lackeys. "Can we get a picture of all of you? It will only take a minute!"

"Sure," Lunar sighed, seeing Poseidon and Aries dusting off their armor again. He turned to the Senshi who were watching with some slight discomfort. "You girls want to join us?"

"Sure!" Sailor Moon chirped happily. She was always happy to receive praise for her actions. The other Senshi knew that this would give her a swelled head for a while, but it would do her self-esteem as a Senshi wonders.

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"That was _very_ impressive Suzaku," Genbu chortled. He was upset that the plan failed, but he couldn't help but tease his teammate about this.

"Shut up!" Suzaku hissed.

"This is why we didn't want a large scale operation," Byakko sighed. "There are too many random factors involved. That one attack drew the attention of not just all the Knights, but almost all the Senshi, and even brought in a new Knight."

"Indeed," Seiryu sighed deeply. "We have also lost a powerful Star Beast in the process."

Suzaku huffed and leaned into her throne. This was not a good day for her.

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By the next day of school, pictures and posters of the Knights and Senshi after their battle with the Soljants were making their rounds at school. All the boys wanted pictures of Gaia just as badly as the girls wanted pics of the other male Knights. Akane was most likely the only person not enjoying the news as she and her sister ate out underneath a tree in the schoolyard.

"What is so great about this floozy?" Akane sighed. "She's hanging around with those nutjobs. I bet she's just as crazy as the rest of them!"

Nabiki resisted the urge to growl and smack her sister upside the head. Her disrespect for people who were either better than her or didn't like her was on par with Ranma's foot-in-mouth. Retaining her composed look, she decided to play her part and talk to her sister.

"Gee, I dunno, Akane," she grinned. "Maybe it's because they saved almost everyone in school? Maybe it is because they stuck around to make sure that everyone was okay? Even you can't deny they exist now that they and the monsters have shown themselves on a scale like this."

Akane just huffed and slouched in her seat. She knew she couldn't really say nor do anything about it. Didn't mean she had to like it though. The other girls were still ignoring her save for Yuka and Sayuri and she didn't want to risk extending her sentence.

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In a restaurant somewhere in the USA, a black haired girl who wore a bow in her hair was surfing the internet on her computer when she clicked on a picture link she'd received in her E-mail. What came out was a picture of the Inner Sailor Senshi along with the Celestial Knights. When she saw Gaia, she grinned.

"Looks like Horsie's got a new friend," she said.

"Onee-chan, is that Lunar-tachi and the Senshi?" her brother, a boy with auburn hair tied into a braid, asked as he looked over her shoulder at the picture on the monitor screen. "Sugoi, another Knight!"

"We may have to pay them a visit one day, otouto-chan."

"Hai, onee-chan."

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On a plane just getting ready to leave Narita International Airport for a flight to America, there was a beautiful green-haired woman who was the picture of calm, but her insides were churning. Granted, she could have teleported to the place where she wanted to go, but going the long way helped calm her nerves.

"Soon," she whispered to herself. "I will be with my first family again."

To Be Continued...

A/N: All right! Another Knight appears on the scene. I hope no one is mad at me for making Nabiki a Knight. If you are then please don't flame me for it.


End file.
